


Steel Heart

by katychan666



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Android!Magnus, Falling In Love, First Meetings, M/M, More tags to be added, mentions of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:34:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 56,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27265798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katychan666/pseuds/katychan666
Summary: Alec finds a damaged android, a robot that is designed to look like a human, on his way back from work.  In his spare time he fixes robots, so he decides to patch him, Magnus, up. Wanting to express his gratitude, Magnus decides to repay Alec back by teaching him a few things. Magnus is the tutor and Alec is his pupil, but they soon grow closer...
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 111
Kudos: 90





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by vixx and otp promot generator

Alec was biting on his lip as he was connecting the vires, hoping that his plan was going to work. When he was on his way from work, he ran into something. Not something, but more like  _ someone.  _ When Alec was coming back from work he liked taking the shortcut from it, which meant that he had to walk through a lot of hidden and small alleys, which he didn’t really mind. It meant that he was home sooner than later and that was always a plus in his book. Especially that day because he had a very long and not very interesting day. Alec lived alone, enjoying his solitude after a long day at work, surrounded by stupid people. Alec wasn’t what you’d call a  _ people _ person, he liked being alone and the only people that he could really stand were his close friends and his family. That was about it, otherwise he was pretty closed off kind of guy, working in an office, which was okay. It wasn’t too difficult, he had a decent boss and the salary was good, so he didn’t really have much to complain about. 

Many people felt sorry for him, though. Both of older siblings, Isabelle and Jace, were living with their significant others. Max, who was still young, was living with Maryse and Robert, who were always trying to find someone for their son - so that he wouldn’t be alone and no matter how many times Alec tried telling them that he was _ fine _ on his own, they wouldn’t give up. But Alec didn’t mind it too much because he knew that it was coming from a good place. So, he would whine and roll his eyes, but deep down he was happy that his parents cared so much for him, trying to find him someone that would make him happy.

Alec had a few boyfriends so far, but it never really worked out. All of them would claim that Alec was too cold; it lasted for a few months, but then the magic fizzled out and Alec was faced with the harsh reality that he would probably never find anyone, which was okay. Alec was happy on his own, like he was, sailing on the  _ forever alone  _ boat, which was fine. At least he made himself believe that. Even if he didn’t have anyone, he wasn’t lonely though. As a hobby, in his free time, he liked repairing robots, who usually kept him company. Technology was fun and Alec liked experimenting things.

Artificial intelligence was nothing out of the ordinary at that day and age. They came a long way and even though robots were there at first to help the humans out, that has also changed. Not all artificial intelligence was well accepted though - there were still too many idiots in the society that didn’t like that  _ robots _ walked among them. They looked completely human, could  _ feel  _ the emotions, though many would argue that they managed to learn how the emotions felt, but that they weren’t exactly real emotions. That they were just codes uploaded onto their drives and that it was so simple, but Alec came to learn that it wasn’t as simple as people liked to think.

Sure, to some extent it was true, but robots were so much more than that, especially androids. Other types of robots didn’t have a mind of their own, but androids were something else. They looked just like humans, one wouldn’t be able to tell if they were human or made out of metal. It was really difficult to tell them apart and Alec was always fascinated by them from a young age. From a young age he would help Robert in his repair shop - that was where he also got the hobby of repairing and tinkering. He wasn’t an actual, licenced mechanic, it was just for fun. And something to get by, to pass the time. Alec sighed and then glanced over to the side.

When he was coming back home he ran into an android that was just tossed aside on one of those narrow and dark alleys. It made Alec sick down to his stomach as that wasn’t the first time that he’d seen something like that happen. He couldn’t muster to believe that there were still people like that; it’s been a century now that androids were members of society; they had the same rights as the other humans, but there were still idiotic people like that, who thought that they were  _ lesse _ r than them just because they weren’t human. It made him so mad, biting into his lip and he huffed under his breath.

The android that he found was a much older model; it was one of the first models that were ever produced, but on the outside he had a face of a young man. He looked quite severely damaged, Alec could tell that he would have to do quite some tinkering to get him to start up again, chewing on his lip and he shook his head.  _ Just who could have done something like that to him?  _ The android was attacked, it wasn’t because it was an older model. Androids could easily run for decades - they could get older, just like humans.  _ They were human.  _ They could eat, they could breathe, they could think, they could love, they could-

Alec firmed fists with his hands because he was beyond angry. Once he would know who did this to this young man, he was going to report them to the authorities because he couldn’t not say anything. Even though the android was severely damaged on the outside, his hard drive and software were completely intact - that goodness. Alec hummed, connecting the other two wires and rubbed the back of his neck. 

He’d been at it for a few hours now and he was getting somewhere, smiling along as he glanced over to the other. The young man looked around the same age as him and Alec’s smile widened. He was handsome, Alec trying to remind himself that he shouldn’t be really drooling - not until he would get him to work again and chewed on his lip. His cheeks heated up and he cleared his throat. Still, he looked like an angel, Alec giggling and he again had to force himself to continue working on him.

It was his legs that had the most damage on them, but he was slowly making progress. Alec could have activated his software already, but he didn’t want to shock the poor guy. It could be traumatic if he saw the state that he was in, so Alec was being sensible about it, biting his lip again as he was focusing on the work and he looked over at the side where he saw Church. Church was his pet, he was his cat and was also a robot. Alec found him dumped in the bin and took him home immediately. Church was with him ever since and Alec smiled when he saw Church slowly coming over to him and he cocked his head to the side.

“You can come closer,” said Alec and Church let out an annoyed meow - ah, yes, he was quite grumpy for a cat. Well, all cats were grumpy, but Church was even grumpier and Alec was laughing along because Church didn’t seem to like the new company that they had in their apartment.  _ Apart from being grumpy, Church was also very jealous.  _ Alec was laughing along because Church came closer to android and was carefully studying it.

“No need to be jealous, Church,” said Alec and winked. “I’m just doing my job. I have to repair him like I repaired you, remember?” asked Alec and Church meowed and then slowly came even closer to the other, gently touching his palm with his paw and he looked over to Alec. “Now, who allowed you to be so adorable?” asked Alec and Church meowed in confusion. “Come over here and help me,” said Alec, signing to his lap and Church happily ran over to his side and he happily meowed when he was in Alec’s lap.

Church was amazing and the perfect and only companion that Alec ever needed in his life. Church listened to his problems, he could vent when he was telling his cat about his problems and he was always there when Alec was in the room that he kept his tinkering tools. Church was always helping him along - helping by sitting in his lap and curiously watching Alec work. Honestly, it was amazing and Alec was happily humming along, Church slowly laying down and turning onto his back, demanding tummy rubs. Alec started laughing and he arched his brow.

“Aw, you see I’m working, right?” asked Alec, but Church didn’t care and because Alec wouldn’t comply immediately he started howling loudly. Alec was laughing, but in the end he did as he was told, Church happily purring in his lap and enjoying his tummy rub, Alec’s laughter getting louder. “Oh, you silly kitty,” said Alec and clicked with his tongue. “You have me completely wrapped around your adorable little paw, don’t you?” asked Alec and Church was only staring up at him. Alec grinned back and when he wanted to kiss his little head, that was a cue for Church to jump away.

Church was very selective when it came to affection that he liked and didn’t like. He enjoyed tummy rubs, but he hated kisses and Alec pouted and shook his head. “Poor me, I just wanted to kiss you,” said Alec, Church carefully looking at him over from the door and Alec shook his head. “Oh, you’re such a dork, Church,” said Alec and then looked towards the android in front of him and his smile faltered a little bit, removing some of the hair that was falling over his forehead and he puffed his hair.

“What’s your story, I wonder,” said Alec and bit his lip. “Well, don’t you worry. You’ll be back on your legs in no time. I still need a few spare parts, but by the end of the week, you’ll be working and I’ll make sure that whoever did this to you will pay,” said Alec, running his fingers through his hair and he continued with the repairs.

* * *

“Just a bit more,” said Alec, who was again talking to himself. It was three days later and his repairs were slowly coming on an end. He managed to get all of the needed spare parts, some of them he got from his father’s workshop, who was always happy to help him out. Alec was happy with how fast he was making the progress and he was beginning to grow quite impatient to finally start up the other one; he was very interested to get to know the other, again looking over to his face and his face heated up, puffing his cheeks. Alec’s smile widened and he finally placed all of the tools down. 

“Finally, I managed to repair you,” said Alec and then rubbed his palms together. “Now let’s see,” said Alec, slowly making sure that the androids' legs were properly working, slowly moving them up and down and there was nothing wrong with them - yet. They moved smoothly, which was good and he smiled. Ah, he felt a sense of pride and happiness; he felt accomplished. Church wasn’t with him at the time being, he could hear him running around the living room and he smiled. 

“Let’s start you up,” said Alec softly, reaching back behind the android’s neck and his cheeks heated up again when he leaned closer. Usually he didn’t really have difficulties with this part, but unlike the other androids, this one was different. He was crazily good looking and Alec had to force himself to look around and he gently pressed the button that was on the other’s neck, closing the opening slit and then leaned quickly back because he didn’t want the other to catch him being so close to his face.

Still, it needed a bit for the android to start up. The first thing that lit up were the other’s eyes, shining in a golden colour and Alec’s eyes widened.  _ Oh, his eyes were gorgeous.  _ Android opened his eyes, but Alec could tell that he was still starting up. Hence it was an older model, he needed a bit, but after a few minutes, his eyes stopped shining. His eyes were now dark, unfocused and Alec felt his heart jumping up to his chest. He felt his palms getting sweaty and he bit into his lower lip. Okay, this was it - he worked fine, right? Ah, this was always such an exciting moment; he couldn’t wait to get to know him. 

It wasn’t really a surprise that it took awhile for the other to start up properly. Not only that he was an older model, but he was also severely injured before. Alec was patiently waiting as the android was slowly adjusting to his surroundings. The other was looking around the place, visibly confused because he had no idea where he was nor how he got there. He slowly extended out his hands, studying them. Then he glanced down over to his legs, slowly moving his toes. Alec was also on the edge, hoping that he repaired him properly and it looked like everything was working just fine. Huffing in relief, Alec chewed on his lip and nodded.  _ Okay he was going to have to explain things now to him.  _ And ask him a couple of things as well, hoping that the other was going to comply.

Magnus, the android, was slowly coming back to his usual self, still a little bit loopy, but he felt fine and he glanced towards the other that was sitting on the other side of the room now and he then slowly straightened himself up. He then looked around the room again and his eyes widened a little bit - it looked like a mechanic shop. He flinched and he looked back towards the other.  _ Who was he? Did he get him to use his spare parts?  _ The last thing that Magnus was aware of was being thrown out and then-

“W-where am I?” stammered Magnus and Alec’s eyes widened. His voice was shaky, but soft and Alec liked how it sounded. It was pleasant to his ears and he clasped his hands together, opening his mouth to explain a few things to the other.

“You are over at my place,” said Alec, but knew that he didn’t explain much with that. He exhaled softly and then rubbed the back of his neck. “I found you a few days on the street, you were in very bad shape, so I brought you back to my place,” said Alec and the other was still quite freaked out, which was understandable. “And fixed you up. I hope you feel okay, I can take another look at you just to be sure,” said Alec softly and Magnus looked up and down the other. Then he looked towards his legs, extending out his hands as well. Everything seemed  _ fine.  _

“I feel okay,” stammered Magnus and then glanced towards the other. He was a human, right? Magnus could tell. “You’re a human, right?” he asked painfully slowly and Alec tensed up a little bit. The tone of his voice was tense - the one who did this to him was definitely human and Alec nodded. Magnus chewed on his lip and silence fell between them.

“My name is Alec Lightwood,” said Alec softly and Magnus looked up at him. 

“And this is your… workshop?” asked Magnus, very much confused.

“Well, not exactly,” said Alec, leaning back and he felt his cheeks heating up because Magnus was staring at him way too much. “Repairing and tinkering is more of a hobby,” confessed Alec and then puffed his cheeks. Magnus was still very much confused - so this complete stranger found him, brought him in and… repaired him? Magnus flinched because he knew that he would probably have to pay the guy, looking down and he shuddered. He knew that the damage down to his system was pretty bad and it had to be pricy, but he didn’t have the money that would-

“How much do I owe you?” muttered Magnus and Alec cocked his head to the side. “I don’t really have much, but-”

“Oh, please don’t worry about the money,” said Alec quickly, waving it off. “It’s not like that, it’s… I told you, it’s a hobby, you don’t have to pay me anything at all,” said Alec and Magnus’ eyes grew. This human was full of surprises, wasn’t he? “I mean it, you don’t have to pay me for it. I’m happy that you’re up and about, that’s all the payment that I really need,” said Alec and Magnus cocked his head to the side.

“Are you sure you’re human?” escaped past Magnus’ lips and Alec snorted.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure. I was at least the last time I checked,” joked Alec and Magnus blinked a few times.

“You’re an angel,” muttered Magnus and Alec started laughing loudly.

“Oh, trust me, I can guarantee you that I am  _ not _ an angel,” said Alec and shook his head.  _ Another reason for bringing Magnus back home like this and not charging him any money was because he found him hot.  _ Usually he would charge people money, of course, much cheaper than a licenced mechanic, but it was still quite some sum. But for Magnus it was free of charge. His cheeks heated up a little bit and Magnus finally cracked a smile and it was the brightest smile that Alec had ever seen.

If anyone was an angel it was Magnus himself!

“You’re funny,” said Magnus and slowly stood up. Alec was also quick on his legs and he was right by Magnus’ side, who was slowly taking steps forward, his legs feeling still a bit unstable, but it was due to the new parts that he needed to get used to. Magnus looked at Alec, who was carefully studying his movement - the guy was genuinely worried about him, huh? “I can tell you one thing,” said Magnus and Alec looked towards him. “Even though you're not licenced you’ve done a much better job than the most of the others licenced workshops,” said Magnsu and Alec’s face heated up.

“W-well, I’m not sure about that, I mean-”

“Especially given that I’m old as fuck,” joked Magnus and Alec quickly shook his head.

“It’s not true,” said Alec quickly and Magnus looked over at him. “You’re young,” said Alec and Magnus chuckled. Ah, Alec was trying to be kind, huh?

“I’m one of the very last left original models made a century ago, angel, I think it’s safe to say that I’m-”

“Amazing,” said Alec and Magnus arched his brow and Alec quickly glanced down and cleared his throat. Magnus wanted to laugh, but he could tell that Alec was serious, so he didn’t and he glanced down. “I’m sorry if I sound like a fanboy, but it’s,” said Alec and rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re beautiful,” said Alec and as soon as he realised what left his mouth he wanted to stuff it back inside.  _ He was so lame! _

“I am?”

“I-I-I didn’t mean it in a weird way,” said Alec and then started walking around the room. “I mean the way you’re programmed… no that sounds weird,” whined Alec and then face-palmed himself. “I mean your face is pretty as well… I don’t know. I will stop talking. Okay, yes thank you,” said Alec and then finally managed to keep his mouth from running. 

Magnus was listening to all of that rambling and in the end he just giggled. The human was adorable and that said a lot - Magnus usually wasn’t a fan of them. He had a lot of personal reasons to not like them, but this one was different. He patched him up for free, he seemed to really genuinely care for him, he wasn’t a dick like the others - at least from what he knew about him now - and he was cute. Dark, handsome, tall - perfect. Not to mention that he was a giant dork. Usually Magnus was put off by stammering, but not by this one. He laughed softly and shook his head.

“You’re adorable,” commented Magnus and Alec’s cheeks reddened even more.

“Pft, who, me? Not at all, not at all,” laughed Alec nervously and Magnus gave him a little smile. He was again walking around Alec’s room, turning over to him and Alec happily clasped his hands together; he was happy to see that the other was walking happily around. “By the way,” he said and Magnus turned to him. “What’s your name?” asked Alec curiously.

“Oh, how rude of me,” said Magnus. “Magnus, Magnus Bane,” said Magnus happily and Alec smiled, nodding. He stepped closer to the other and offered him his hand.  _ A handshake?  _ Right, Alec saw him as an equal! It was… a nice feeling. He knew that most humans were like Alec, anyway. Magnus happily took Alec’s hand and shook it. 

“Nice to meet you,” said Alec with a wink and Magnus beamed at him.

“Indeed,” said Magnus and chuckled. “I do wanna pay you back somehow, I can’t… I mean,” he said and rubbed the back of his neck. “Is there another way that I can pay you back?” asked Magnus and Alec hummed, biting his lip and eventually he thought about it. He really didn’t want Magnus to feel like he was in debt about it, but when he thought about it again he knew that he would probably feel the same. ”Maybe I can help you out with your hobby? I know a thing or two about repairing stuff,” he said and waggled his eyebrows.

“Seriously? Oh, yes please!” said Alec. Oh, Magnus probably knew so much more than him - Alec was always eager to learn. “You could be my tutor - or something like that,” said Alec and Magnus’ eyes widened. He chuckled and looked away.  _ Ah a tutor and a pupil.  _ Magnus was hoping something more towards… well, having Alec as his pupil was going to have to do for now. Smiling, Magnus nodded.

“You’ve got yourself a deal, my little grasshopper,” said Magnus and Alec laughed loudly. 

Alec wanted to say something, but then there was loud howling being heard from the door and Alec laughed. Magnus’ eyes widened - it was a cat? Oh, he loved cats! Excited, he clasped his hands together. “Sorry, that’s Church, he’s a needy kitty,” said Alec and Magnus was in awe.

“I love cats,” said Magnus. “Can I meet him?”

“Of course. Just a bit of heads up - he is very grumpy,” said Alec and walked over to the door, opening it for Church to step inside and the first thing that he did was walk over to Magnus and was carefully studying him. Magnus decided to slowly squat down and let the cat come to him but not even a minute later the cat was sitting in his lap and was happily purring. Alec was in awe. “How did you do that?” asked Alec and Magnus winked.

“Magic,” said Magnus and Alec hummed along.

“Teach me?”

“Too soon, little grasshopper,” said Magnus and Alec only started laughing. It was going to be fun having the other one around for sure!


	2. Chapter 2

“No, no, dad, you’re doing that wrong,” said Alec when he was watching his father repair one of the robots that was brought earlier that day by one of the customers and Robert narrowed his eyes. Unlike his son, he was a licenced mechanic for over twenty years now so he was a little bit offended when Alec said that he was doing something wrong. But then again Alec was always amazing when it came to technology. It was kind of a pity and also a mystery to Robert why his son didn’t want to become a licenced repairman like him. The salary that he would get for it would be much higher than what he was getting now for the office job that he was doing. But then again, he didn’ want to push things on Alec - he had to have his own reasons for it. Something about it being a hobby and therefore it being more fun. Robert didn’t quite get it, but was still supportive about it.

But he had a lot of fun every time that Alec would visit his repair shop and help him out a little bit. Usually it was on weekends when he didn’t have work. Robert was interested to learn how he was wrong about what he was doing. The customer brought in their pet - it was a dog robot that needed just a little bit of maintenance. Nothing too much, something that he would be able to do on his own in a span of a few hours, but now Alec was telling him that he was doing his work wrong? Robert hummed and stepped aside a little bit, allowing Alec to come closer and he arched his brow.

“I’m wrong? How so?” asked Robert patiently. He was always more than welcome to learn new things, but it was usually quite the opposite side. Alec was usually the one that was on the learning side. Still, Robert allowed Alec the chance to explain, having his arms crossed on his chest and Alec chuckled. Even though Robert allowed him to explain properly that didn’t mean that Alec couldn’t tell that his father felt a little bit… bothered? Challenged, that was more like it and Alec grinned. Robert was quite competitive. 

“I mean you’re not doing it wrong _,_ ” said Alec and then rubbed the back of his neck. He slowly stepped closer and clasped his hands together, Robert arching his brow again and Alec chuckled. “It’s programming that needs a little bit of work, right? An update,” said Alec and Robert slowly nodded. “Let me show you a faster way of doing it,” said Alec and Robert blinked a few times.

“Faster?”

“Yeah,” said Alec, cracking his knuckles and then he rubbed his palms together. “Can I?” he asked and Robert chewed on his lip and eventually he nodded because he was curious to see what Alec was going to do. And if it wasn’t going to work, he could always step in. Alec was smiling because he was going to impress his father just now - he couldn’t wait. It’s been about a week since he began the process of being Magnus’ pupil _and he has learned so much already._ Magnus was amazing, he knew so many things, so many things that Alec didn’t even know that were possible. That just went to show that even if Magnus was old as hell - like he liked to claim it himself - he had so much knowledge. It was all so precious to Ale and it was an honour that he could learn from him.

“So, what’s the plan?”

“Give me your computer,” said Alec and Robert nodded, allowing Alec to do as he pleased. Alec slowly carried the robot over to the table, placing it on top of it with much care and gentleness, making Robert smile. Alec truly was caring when it came to robots; Robert was really proud of it. Not all people were like that even if they did come a long way. There was still more to be learned. “And now I will place this here,” said Alec softly, plugging the vires into the computer, then connecting it with the pet and he hummed. “As I thought, this will be a piece of cake,” said Alec. “I know of a shortcut that will save you an hour of work, it’s really simple. It’s just a few simple codes and what a difference does it make. Watch and learn, father,” teased Alec and Robert hummed. 

“Huh?” asked Robert and leaned over Alec’s shoulder to see what his son was up to and his eyes widened when he saw all of the codes that Alec started typing into the program that was connected with the pet and he hummed along. “Wait, how did you do that?” asked Robert when he saw that Alec just jumped ahead four steps that he would usually have to do to come to that step and Alec grinned and waggled his eyebrows.

“I learn, old man,” said Alec.

“Y-you clearly do,” said Robert and hummed, watching Alec work. Alec was beaming with happiness because he could tell that Robert was quite impressed. He was watching him work in silence and was humming along every now and then. “Do you mind asking - where did you learn this?” asked Robert and Alec chuckled and then huffed under his breath. As much as it was fun to play around with his old man like this and show off his skills, he couldn’t really take credit for all of them and he typed in a few last codes before the update finally started up and Robert was again in awe. “Holy shit!”

“I know, right?” asked Alec and waggled his eyebrows. “I am a genius,” he carried on, winking, but in the end Alec shook his head and then clicked with his tongue. “I mean I can’t really take credit for it though,” said Alec and Robert arched his brow. “I have a great teacher,” he said and Robert was curious. Alec had a… teacher? Since when? Everything that he learned up until now was all through Robert and the man frowned. Alec laughed - was Robert pouting?

“I’m confused,” said Robert and Alec chuckled. 

“I’ve recently met someone,” said Alec and Robert perked up. “His name is Magnus. It’s a long story, but he is my teacher,” said Alec. “I helped him out and now he’s helping me out,” carried Alec on. Robert was now even more intrigued into his Magnus person. It sounded like he knew a lot about programming. He wanted to know more. Could he meet this Magnus person one day?

“I’m… he must know a lot of things,” said Robert and Alec’s smile was growing. “Maybe you could bring him around my shop some time and we could-” started Robert, getting a bit too ahead of himself and Alec lifted a finger up. Ah, yes, he knew that Robert would be interested in meeting Magnus and as much as it made Alec happy about it… _spending time alone with Magnus was the best._ Maybe later when he and Magnus would grow closer! Alec’s cheeks reddened a little bit.

He and Magnus got along pretty well! Magnus was patient when it came to teaching him - he visited his place three times so far and Alec was having a lot of fun. Having Magnus around was fun and it was incredible how much he knew about things. But it was more than just _that._ Yes, Alec was learning more about programming but at the end of it all, it wasn’t what Alec liked the most about having Magnus around. He liked hanging out with him, he was a fun person.

And it was adorable how much Magnus and Church got along - Magnus was definitely a cat person and Church was a _Magnus person._ Church loved Magnus, he loved receiving tummy rubs and kisses from him, while he would still refuse them from Alec. It was amazing, really. Church didn’t like any of the people that he brought over to his place - apart from Izzy, Jace and the others that were close to Alec. Others he didn’t like, he especially hated Alec’s ex boyfriends. Never accepted them into their apartment, but with Magnus it was immediate. He didn’t need to bribe him with anything. Church loved Magnus from the whole start and Alec was amazed - maybe this was a good sign for something?

Alec shook his head, knowing that he was getting ahead of himself _way too much._ But it was amazing and it was something that meant a lot to him. Sighing under his breath, he was snapped back to reality when he saw that the update was complete and he safely unplugged the dog from the computer and then turned on the chair and grinned all the way up to his ears. “Here we go, it’s complete,” said Alec and Robert blinked a few times and he placed his hands on top of his sides. 

“You’ll have to show me again how you did that,” said Robert and Alec laughed.

“Maybe, if I feel generous,” said Alec and Robert’s jaw dropped. 

“Hey!” whined Robert and Alc was laughing along, Robert eventually smiling and he shook his head. He wanted to say something, but the door at the back opened and Robert smiled when he saw Maryse stepping inside of the workshop. Alec smiled when he saw his mom and he was immediately up on his legs. 

“Mom!” said Alec happily and Maryse smiled back.

“I came to check up on you two boys,” said Maryse and smiled. “How are things going? I was hoping that maybe you could wrap up for now and come help me cook the lunch?” she asked, hopeful and Alec happily nodded. Of course Robert was more than happy to help his wife out in the kitchen too. Not people cooked anymore at home since the technology became so advanced, so did the ways of eating. But Lightwoods were still very traditional about _that_.

“Alec apparently has a new teacher and doesn’t need me anymore,” whined Robert and Alec rolled his eyes.

“Dad!”

“Oh?” askd Maryse. 

“Yes, he met some Magnus that is better in programming than me,” said Robert and Alec was still laughing along. His father was hilarious, Maryse also interested in learning more about Magnus, but Alec managed to change the topic of their conversation. He didn’t want to reveal too much about Magnus to them - he didn’t want to jinx it. 

* * *

“Like this?” asked Alec as he tried to ignore the way his cheeks were heating up. Magnus was leaning over to his side and it was very hard for him to focus on what he was doing. Alec didn’t even try denying it to himself how attracted he was to Magnus. How could he when the other was literally an angel? Chewing on his lip, he ducked his head down and cleared his throat. He was focusing on the wires that were in front of him, but it was quite hard. Magnus was over at his place, giving him lessons again and he swallowed thickly. They’ve been at it for hours now again and usually when they were done for the day, Magnus left. But Alec had plans for that day.

It was fun having Magnus around and that day Alec wanted to ask Magnus if he wanted to stay over for a bit longer - they could hang out. No tinkering, no nothing - just hanging out and talking to each other. Even though they’ve gotten along pretty well and grew closer throughout the last week, Alec still didn’t know much about Magnus and vice versa. He wanted to get to know Magnus more on a personal level, but at the same time he didn’t want to make it weird.

Alec has been trying to ask Magnus to hang out with him for a few sessions now, but he chickened out every single time. Alec didn’t want Magnus to think that he was creepy or anything like that, so he tried staying away, but… ugh. It was hard. Biting into his lip, he swallowed thickly and allowed himself to take a quick glance at Magnus, who had a huge smile on his face. Alec was an amazing pupil, he picked up everything very fast, like a sponge - truly. Soaking up the knowledge and he was pretty much confused why didn’t he get a licence and open up a workshop of his own. It would make so much sense - he would be amazing at it. He had a natural talent for it.

“Just like that,” said Magnus and hummed along. “Now connect those two,” said Magnus softly and Alec nodded. Alec was again looking down towards the wires and because of that Magnus allowed himself to steal a glance of Alec - it was only fair hence he caught Alec stealing glances at him before. It made him smile and he huffed under his breath. Alec truly wasn’t like the others. _He was just so kind to him._ Always so kind. Treated him with respect. It was definitely a different experience for Magnus. 

The light switched on and Alec happily clapped. “Oh my God, look at this, I did it,” said Alec and Magnus winked. “I actually did that just now, I’m amazing,” he said and Magnus was laughing along softly. That was true - he was showing Alec a few tricks that the other wasn’t aware of and he was quite interested to see how fast the other would pick it up. _Immediately._ Magnus was in awe. 

“Woah, you’re very good at this, you know that, right?” asked Magnus and Alec glanced down and shrugged. Yes, he knew that he was right but when Magnus pointed out for him like that it made him feel shy. His cheeks reddened and he looked down, biting onto his lip and Magnus’ smile was growing again. Alec was beyond adorable, Magnus slowly pulling back a little bit when he saw how close the two of them were. As silence fell between the two of them, Magnus figured that he should say something and when he checked up on the clock he noticed that it was much later than he thought - time really flew by fast when he was having fun. 

And it was so much fun over at Alec’s. He couldn’t believe it at first but he actually was able to call Alec - a human - his friend. At least he thought of their relationship like that. They didn’t really… talk about personal stuff, but they still got along so well. Everything came so natural - talking to him made him feel happy. Chewing on his lip, Magnus knew that he needed to take things slow, but that was something that he found hard to do. “I’ve been here for over two hours,” said Magnus and then took a deep breath. It was the weekend, indeed, but Alec probably still had things to do, people to see.

“Oh, you’re just gonna leave?” asked Alec bluntly and Magnus gave him a surprised look.

“Well, I’ve been here for a couple of hours already,” said Magnus. He wanted to stay longer so much, it was lonely and empty being over at his own apartment. Being with Alec made him happy and made him forget about the loneliness around him. “I don’t want to bother you for too long. I mean it’s the weekend and you probably have plans, you know?”

“Ah yes, being bored out of my mind and ignored by Church sound like such an amazing plan,” joked Alec and Magnus smiled softly. Alec cleared his throat and shrugged. “I… well, you’re probably busy too, it’s not… if you want only, I suppose there’s much more interesting things to do than hanging out with boring me,” said Alec and Magnus quickly perked up, shaking his head.

“You’re not boring,” said Magnus seriously.

“You’re just saying that,” said Alec and grinned. “But thank-”

“I mean it,” said Magnus and Alec smiled softly, his cheeks again heating up and he glanced down. “And I would love to hang out with you for a bit longer. It’s not like I have somewhere else to be,” he carried on and Alec’s heart jumped, quickly bolting on his legs. _His plan worked!_ Magnus was staying over! ”If you truly don’t mind that is,” added Magnus and Alec quickly nodded.

“I love having you around, Magnus,” said Alec softly and quickly left the room because he wanted to get the rest of his house in order a bit before Magnus would join him in there. Alec was pacing around, cursing under his breath for not thinking about it before. Magnus, on the other hand, was sitting in the room that Alec used for tinkering and was trying to wrap his head around what Alec had just said to him.

_I love having you around._

Magnus spent so many decades trying to avoid people that being wanted and appreciated became such a foreign concept to him. It made him feel… all fuzzy and happy inside. But it was a dangerous game that he was playing - he got attached to people too fast and too much. 

* * *

“My dad was so surprised,” said Alec, laughing and Magnus tried not to get too distracted by his pretty smile. “Today when I showed him what you taught me - he was so surprised and jealous,” said Alec, laughing along and Magnus was smiling as well. How could he not? Alec looked so adorable and excited when he was telling him about his father and their workshop, how much he loved helping his old man there and it was all so much fun. Magnus was glad that he stayed over at Alec’s longer that day even if he had some second thoughts before about it. 

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes, you’re an amazing teacher, Magnus,” said Alec happily and the other grinned.

“You’re soaking up all of the knowledge, my little grasshopper - you will soon surpass the master,” joked Magnus and Alec chuckled.

“Pft, as if,” said Alec, waving it off. “There’s no way I’ll ever be as good as you are. I mean you know so much, y’know?” asked Alec and then leaned back happily. “Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with me,” he carried on and Magnus had to look away or Alec would see him flush. Yes, he was an android, but he could also flush. It was the only feature he wished how to turn off.

“Ah, you flatter me way too much,” said Magnus and winked.

“No way!” said Alec and grinned happily. 

“So,” said Magnus. “Your dad runs a workshop?”

“M-hmm.”

“Makes sense why you’re so good at it,” said Magnus and Alec was again flushing. Magnus smiled and then hummed. “You should totally get a licence, I mean it,” said Magnus and winked. Alec smiled shyly and he shrugged. Perhaps, one day. It was just too much responsibility for him and he didn’t know if he would be able to cope with it all. Sighing under his breath, Alec leaned back and then looked around his living room.

Magnus and him were talking for about an extra hour since then and all that was happening was Alec talking about himself. He wasn’t really used to and as much as he appreciated that Magnus was interested in him so much, he was also kind of awkward. He didn’t want Magnus to think that all he was able to do was to talk about him. And he wanted to know more about Magnus as well!

“What’s your story?” asked Alec and surprised Magnus.

Magnus cocked his head to the side and blinked a few times. “M-my story?” asked Magnus and Alec nodded. Alec was interested in… _him?_ Like, knowing things about his private life? That was also a foreign concept to Magnus and he chewed on his lip. 

“Of course. I was running my mouth for the past hour, you must be bored out of your mind,” joked Alec and Magnus quickly shook his head.

“Not at all, I had fun listening to all of it,” said Magnus softly. “It’s… nice to listen to someone for a change,” he said and Alec narrowed his eyes. Magnus seemed… sad. Loneliness flashed in Magnus’ eyes and Alec held in his breath. “You sure you wanna know things about me?” asked Magnus carefully. 

“Well, duh, what kind of a friend would I be if I wasn’t interested in your hobbies and stuff like that,” said Alec and Magnus’ eyes widened again. He thought of Alec as his friend, but now that he knew that Alec also found him his friend… it made him happy. 

“Friend?”

“Ah,” said Alec and then bit his lip. “Sorry, I… I know we’ve only met. Like last week. I just… I really like spending time with you. I didn’t want to rush it, if you-”

“Not many humans want to be friends with me,” said Magnus and Alec was surprised and shocked. 

“Fuck them,” said Alec and shrugged. “Seriously, what a loss for them. And now you’re my new best friend and they can’t have that title anymore,” said Alec, running his mouth a bit too much for his liking, but he wanted Magnus to know how much he appreciated his friendship. “From now on you’re my best friend,” said Alec and waggled his eyebrows. “I decided, you cannot get rid of me now,” said Alec and Magnus laughed softly, but Alec could tell that his words meant a lot to the other.

Magnus almost teared up. For almost a century he was always running into humans that always somehow fucked him over - either they used him, hated him for his core existence or lied to him to get something from. And after a century he happened to run into Alec who was so different. He cared about him and they’ve only met. “That… means more to me than you probably realise.”

“No, I get it. People are jerks,” said Alec and shook his head. “Like me you probably haven’t met a decent lot in a while, huh?” asked Alec and Magnus smiled sadly and sighed under his breath.

“No,” said Magnus and sighed. “I can’t say I have,” said Magnus and shook his head. “I do have a few friends that are… of my kind,” said Magnus and Alec nodded. Androids like him, he understood him. “Haven’t had much luck with your kind,” said Magnus and Alec sighed and shook his head.

“People suck,” said Alec and Magnus chuckled.

“You’re not offended?”

“Why? Not at all,” said Alec and laughed. “Look all of my ex boyfriends have been human so far and all of them suck,” joked Alec and Magnus perked up - _boyfriends, he said?_ Magnus’ eyes lit up and he had to force himself not to think about it. Alec was into guys. He got that vibe from him a few times - when he would call him beautiful and such, but he thought it was only his wishful thinking. 

“You’re funny,” said Magnus softly and Alec smiled. “Well,” said Magnus and sighed. “I’ve lived mostly with people of my kind so far,” said Magnus and Alec gave him a little nod. “I’ve lived pretty much everywhere around the world,” said Magnus and Alec’s lit up. “You’re so easy to read, you know that?” asked Magnus and laughed softly.

“So I’ve been told,” said Alec and shrugged. “Oh you must had seen some pretty incredible places, huh?”

“Oh, yes,” said Magnus and smiled. “I haven’t travelled in a bit, but I’d like to visit a few of the places that I’ve been to, yeah,” said Magnus and Alec nodded. Alec learned that Magnus liked travelling! _Alec only dated guys that were human so far, huh?_ Was there any particular reason or… _no!_ Magnus stopped before he could get any further. Something as simple as a friendship with a human was a foreign concept to him. He couldn’t believe that he was- 

“Travelling sounds fun!”

“Yes,” said Magnus and smiled. “I used to travel with my… father a lot in the past,” said Magnus and Alec’s eyes widened. _He had a father?_ Magnus saw the clear confusion on Alec’s face - which was fair - so he smiled. “He’s a generation older than me. He took me in when I was in a very... bad place. Since then he became kind of a father to me, so, yeah - my father,” said Magnus and Alec’s widened. He was still around? “The very first model to be ever made. He’s very proud of that, ugh,” said Magnus and rolled, laughing along a little bit. 

“He’s still around? I mean he’s-”

“Of course he is,” said Magnus and chuckled. “He’s in London now, probably. He made sure that we’re always in touch,” said Magnus and Alec cocked his head to the side. “He made sure that he’s the first on my contact list,” whined Magnus and Alec chuckled. Oh, on his software and he tried not to laugh because that sounded also like- “He picked the most annoying ringtone ever, my head always is-” started Magnus and looked at Alec who was laughing now way too much for his liking and he got offended a bit. “It’s not funny it’s-”

“So annoying, I know,” said Alec. “Sounds like my dad too,” said Alec in between his laughter and Magnus’ facial expressions softened up because he understood why he was laughing so hard. “I guess we have another thing in common?”

“Hmm?”

“Over protective dad, that's a huge dork,” said Alec and Magnus also burst into laughter as well.

_He guessed that Alec was right after all._

They had so many things in common!


	3. Chapter 3

Alec was late. He and Magnus were supposed to meet up soon, but Alec was running late. Magnus agreed to come and help Alec pick out a few spare pieces that he needed for his tinkering and at first the idea was beyond perfect in Alec’s opinion. The two of them were meeting out - not at his place, but out. In a public setting. It made him both happy, excited and nervous at the same time and he didn’t know why he was  _ so nervous.  _ It wasn’t like he was going to be meeting Magnus for the first time and it wasn’t even his place that they would be meeting at. And yet, he spent the last hour and a half trying to plan out his outfit, yet he came to the conclusion that he had absolutely nothing to wear and he was sitting on the edge of his bed, like a pile of sadness, trying to figure out what to do. He couldn’t cancel plans because of that, it was stupid. But he also couldn’t show up dressed like that. Also it was kind of annoying that Alec didn’t even know what was wrong with his outfit, but he didn’t like it. 

Alec never bothered with how he dressed - he wasn’t one to dress for the occasion, he had a few clothes that he considered to be  _ good  _ and fancy - the ones that he bought on his shopping trips with Izzy, but he didn’t know if he should be wearing those. They were too formal, it was supposed to be just a short trip down to the store with spare parts, but it was turning out to be more than that. At least for Alec and he huffed under his breath, rolling onto his side and he closed his eyes. If he wouldn’t choose something to wear in the next few minutes, he was really going to be late and he didn’t want to leave Magnus waiting, chewing on his lip and he rubbed his palms together, looking over at the side where Church was sitting on the floor and looking up at him.

“Church, maybe you can help me out,” said Alec happily. The cat didn’t look too interested, cocking its head to the side and Alec rolled his eyes. Still, Church was the only help that he was going to get, so he didn’t complain too much. “Tell me - grey or blue shirt?” asked Alec and then held in his breath. “Maybe the red one? But I’m not sure, maybe it’s too much?” asked Alec. “I don’t wanna scare Magnus off,” said Alec and Chruch didn’t look too interested until Magnus’ name was mentioned. When Alec mentioned Magnus, the other’s ears perked up and he happily meowed.

Alec laughed softly and crossed his arms on top of his chest.  _ Ah, Magnus really stole both of their hearts, huh?  _ Chruch was a big fan of Magnus and it made Alec happy - the two of them were so cute together. The look in Church’s eyes read -  _ is Magnus going to come over again?  _ “This time Magnus and I are going out,” said Alec and waggled his eyebrows. “You see, I’m already running late, but I have nothing to wear,” whined Alec and hoped that Church would be there for him. However, as soon as the other heard that Magnus  _ wasn’t  _ coming, he turned around and started walking away.

“You’re a traitor,” whined Alec and threw himself back onto the bed, stuffing his face into his pillow and he glared back against his closet. His closet was also a traitor.  _ He needed to get a new closet that would help him pick and choose the right outfits for the right occasions! _ For example if he was going out with a hot guy, he needed the right outfits to make a good impression, no? Alec gritted his teeth, slowly rolling onto his side and he looked around the room, chewing on his lip and he shook his head. This was helpless, he was spending way too much time on this, he knew that Magnus wasn’t going to probably even care what he wore.

Still, Alec wanted to make a good impression! Alec was already in a bad mood, but then he heard ringing coming from the living room and he groaned, rolling his eyes. It was an incoming call and he slowly sat up onto his bed and crossed his arms on top of his chest. He was compelled to ignore the call, but in the end he decided to at least check up on who it was. He thought that it would be one of the people that he helped out in the past, maybe someone needed help with repairs again, but he was pleasantly surprised when he saw his sister’s name written on the screen.

When Alec saw that hologram request was also in the call, he rolled his eyes and placed his hands on top of his sides, but then again he wasn’t too surprised. Usually he declined hologram calls, but he knew that he couldn’t really decline izzy’s. She was going to give him a hard time about it later on and also…  _ maybe she could help him out!  _ Alec’s heart leaped up to his throat and he quickly picked up the call, stepping back a little bit and his smile widened when his sister’s hologram slowly appeared in front of him and Alec hummed along. 

“Izzy, hi!” said Alec happily. It’s been kind of a while since he had last seen his sister - she was travelling all over the place. She had her new line of products that she had been selling and promoting. She lived a busy life, but she always made sure to make time for her family and Alec was very proud of her. Just like Alec, Izzy was also interested in technology, just on a little bit of a different spectrum and Alec chuckled.  _ She was interested in making fashion pieces for them.  _ In the past Alec would roll his eyes at her because he was that of an opinion that they didn’t really need fashionable things, but he soon came to learn that that wasn’t exactly true.  _ If humans were interested in fashion, why wouldn’t robots be as well?  _

“Alec, hi,” said Izzy as well and slowly looked around the place and then smiled when she finally found her brother. He picked up fast this time around! “It’s been a bit, huh? How have you been, big brother?” asked Izzy and Alec smiled and slowly stepped closer to her. Even if he couldn’t exactly give her a hug, he still wanted to be closer to her and Izzy smiled when she saw her brother stepping closer.

“Oh, I’ve been okay, mostly,” said Alec and shrugged. “And you? How are things going?”

“Oh, good,” said Izzy and then smiled. “I’m doing this big launch now and then I’ll be taking a little bit of a break,” she said and winked. Alec nodded and then chuckled along. “I hope I didn’t catch you at the wrong time?” she asked because she noticed right away that Alec was looking up towards the clock and Alec shook his head. He always had time for his sister, she was never bothering or calling him at the wrong time. But still, he was kind of in a hurry and Alec took a deep breath in.

“Oh, not at all,” said Alec and Izzy hummed along - he could claim that all he wanted, but he couldn’t fool Izzy. It was apparent to her that he was kind of jumpy. Alec was able to fool the others, but not Izzy. She knew her older brother well and she laughed.

“Aw, Alec, it’s fine,” said Izzy. “I will call you at a different time or you can call me back later,” said Izzy and Alec cocked his head to the side and he quickly shook his head.  _ No, it wasn’t like that at all! _ “Are you sure?” asked Izzy when she saw him shaking his head. “You seem kind of busy?” she asked and rubbed the back of her head. “Do you have someone over?” she asked and started looking around the place. There was only so far that she could walk around the place as a hologram, but she was still interested to see if there was someone over!

“No,” said Alec quickly.

“Are you sure?” asked Izzy and then looked at Alec again, who nodded. While it was true that he didn’t have anyone over, but- “Ah! But you are expecting someone?” she asked when she saw the look on Alec’s face and he flushed all the way up to his ears.  _ Why was it easy for her to read him like that?  _ As much as he was happy that she was able to guess what was on his mind for most parts, it was also kind of… annoying. Alec chewed on his lip and then rolled his eyes.

“Nobody is coming over,” said Alec in the end. Izzy crossed her arms on top of his chest, tapping her foot against the floor and Alec groaned again.  _ Ah, but there was someone!  _ “I’m going out,” said Alec and then looked down. “Well, I was supposed to be going out,” he said and Izzy perked up. Did she hear it right - Alec was going out with someone? Izzy’s smile made Alec roll his eyes, but at the same time it made him smile. Izzy was always like that, so he knew what to expect when he told her that.

Alec wasn’t really hiding the fact that he had a new (hot) friend from the others, anyway. Alec chewed on his lip and slowly looked up at his sister’s hologram. There was a significant smirk on her face and Alec chuckled. “So, you’re going out with someone, huh?” asked Izzy and Alec nodded. “Anyone special?” she asked and Alec shrugged. Magnus was special, yes, he was very much special to Alec. 

“I mean, it’s a friend of mine,” said Alec.

“Interesting, interesting,” said Izzy and walked a bit closer to Alec. Ah, it was a pity that she wasn’t there. “Tell me more?” she asked, but Alec sensed that the tone of her voice wasn’t pushy. Tell her if he wanted to. Alec chewed on his lip and in the end he huffed under his breath and placed his hands together behind his back.

“He’s truly just a friend of mine, Iz,” said Alec and Izzy waggled her eyebrows.

“It’s a he, huh?”

“Obviously,” said Alec and the look in his eyes told Izzy that there was  _ more _ to the whole story than just friendship… huh? Izzy chuckled and then hummed along.

“Is he a special friend?” asked Izzy and waggled her eyebrows.

“He’s  _ just _ a friend, Iz, don’t make it weird,” said Alec and Izzy laughed softly. “I mean,” he said and clasped his hands together. “It’s too soon to tell,” he said and heard Izzy’s whistle. 

“You like him!”

“It’s so obvious, huh?” asked Alec as his cheeks heated up even more and Izzy nodded. “You’ve always been able to read me like an open book. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or not,” said Alec and Izzy laughed again. “Anyway, I’m supposed to be meeting with him soon,” said Alec and looked at the clock, his jaw dropping because he saw that he was supposed to be meeting up with Magnus in five minutes. He was so going to be late! Alec hoped that Magnus would find it in his heart to forgive him!

“Oh!” said Izzy. “Don’t let me keep you waiting, Alec, go-”

“I need help,” whined Alec and Izzy cocked her head to the side. “I have absolutely  _ nothing _ to wear, Iz, it’s horrible,” said Alec and huffed under his breath. “I mean he’s been over at my place before, but this is different. We are going out, I’m supposed to make a good impression, right?” asked Alec and Izzy tried not to laugh too much, but at the same time it was adorable how much Alec was fussing over the whole thing. Still, it showed her that he was serious about this, huh? Alec never before worried how he was dressed and she gave him a little wink.

“I’ve got you covered, Alec,” said Izzy and Alec perked up happily.

“You’re the best,” whined Alec.

“We must be quick then,” said Izzy and Alec nodded. “Come, bring me the options that you have,” said Izzy and Alec was already running over to his room, grabbing the best clothes that he owned and quickly ran back to Izzy, who was waiting for him over in the living room and was laughing silently.  _ Yep, Alec definitely liked this guy quite a bit.  _ It was more than a friend after all and Izzy was… happy to see Alec like this.

* * *

Magnus didn’t like people showing up late, though he had the tendency to arrive  _ fashionably _ late to events as well, but there was nothing fashionable about running almost an hour late. Magnus was kind of annoyed that he was still waiting for Alec outside the shop and he shook his head - it was kind of stupid to be still waiting. He didn’t have Alec’s number as of yet - which was stupid, Magnus made a mental memo for him to ask Alec for his phone number later - so he couldn’t ask him if he was going to be showing up or not. Alec wasn’t the type that would stand him up and not show up after making plans, but still… Magnus was kind of annoyed to be standing there and waiting.

He’s been waiting for a long time now, chewing on his lip and he looked at the clock again. Almost an hour - what the hell? Was Alec okay? Magnus was worried - maybe something came in between and Alec couldn’t show up. But, Magnus did feel stupid. He put on his best clothes just for this - he made sure that his makeup was top notch, he repainted his nails and made sure that he looked perfect, which was too much work for just going down to the shop, wasn’t it? And it wasn’t a fancy shop at all - he dressed in his best clothes for going into the shop with spare robot parts.

Magnus felt his cheeks heating up and he rolled his eyes. He felt so stupid, but at the same time… he liked it. He liked that he had someone to look forward to seeing and meeting. He was walking up and down the street, avoiding the curious eyes of the people walking by and he rubbed his palms together. “Come on, Alec, where are you?” asked Magnus and huffed under his breath. 

Magnus still didn’t tell any of his friends that he was meeting up with Alec almost on a daily basis. They really didn’t even do much of the tinkering anymore, they were just hanging out at Alec’s place, which was a lot of fun. And Magnus was happy to be able to call someone as amazing as Alec his friend, but he still didn’t tell any of his other friends about Alec because he knew what they would say about him. Magnus didn’t have any friends that were human at the moment - Ragnor, Catarina and Raphael have been with his for a very long time, but they were of his kind. And like Magnus they didn’t have good experiences with the human kind, so they kept their distance away from them and minded their own business. Magnus couldn’t really blame them, he was of the same opinion as them up until recently. It wasn’t until meeting Alec that his opinions started drastically changing.

It was like Alec changed his life upside down and he liked it. Magnus didn’t like changes, but this time around it was different. Magnus didn’t usually like changes, but there was something about Alec that made him want to open up again. He’s been closed off for a very long time, human kind has hurt him and his friends far too many times, but… he didn’t even know how to explain it, but Magnus was ready to give it another chance - something about Alec made him want to open up and make him trust him. So far Alec didn’t give him any kind of reasons not to be trusted, biting onto his lip and Magnus tried not to smile too much when Alec was on his mind.

Magnus wondered what kind of a reaction he would get from his friends if he would tell them about Alec. Luckily he didn’t have to wonder about that too much as he knew that he would probably slip back into a bad mood - he saw Alec running over to him when he looked up and he was snapped back to reality. Alec was running fast, trying his best to be over at his side as soon as it was possible and Magnus smiled.  _ For a moment there he actually believed that there was a living, beating heart there inside of his- _

“Magnus,” called out Alec to him and Magnus started walking to him. “I’m-I’m so sorry,” he said as he was panting, slowly stopping because he’s been running for a while now.  _ He couldn’t believe that he left Magnus waiting for over an hour.  _ Feeling horrible, Alec made a promise to himself that he was going to make it up to him - somehow. Alec finally stopped when he was close to Magnus enough, leaned his head back and was taking in shallow and fast breaths, trying to get his breathing under control. 

“Alec, you showed up,” said Magnus happily and Alec nodded.

“Y-yeah, of course,” said Alec as he was still panting. “I’m sorry for being so late, fuck, I didn’t-didn’t meant to keep you waiting for too long,” said Alec and then sighed. “I didn’t have anything to wear,” he said and Magnus arched his brow.  _ What?  _ “And then my sister called and she helped me pick what to put on, it was a mess. Church is a traitor,” said Alec and shook his head. “I tried asking him for an opinion, but he didn’t want to help me at all,” said Alec and Magnus laughed softly.

That was Alec’s reason for being late? Trouble with his wardrobe. Alec was such a dork and Magnus tried not to laugh too much, but it was too adorable. Alec was busy dressing up? For him? Magnus quickly shook his head because he was again getting ahead of himself, clearing his throat and he rubbed his palms together. “Well,” said Magnus, looking up and down Alec and then he gave him a little wink. “Your sister has good taste,” said Magnus as it was Izzy that picked out his clothes after all and Alec gave him a cheeky smile.

“Yep, I’m lucky to have her,” said Alec and then looked up and down Magnus and noticed that Magnus was also…  _ well, he looked more than nice.  _ Magnus looked really, really good, but Alec didn’t know if that was what the other was going for or if it was just his regular clothes. Not wanting to make things weird, Alec walked past Magnus and headed over to the store. Magnus pouted - he wasn’t getting a compliment back? Magnus was busy pouting, but Alec didn’t really notice it. “Let’s go in?” asked Alec and Magnus huffed under his breath, placing his hands on top of his sides and then glanced down a little bit.

Eventually, Magnus smiled and nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go in, I’m interested if they got some new stuff,” said Magnus and Alec was bursting with excitement. It was always so much fun to go in there and see what else was new. Alec felt like a kid in a candy store and he was happy that now Magnus was the one that he could share this excitement with. 

* * *

“Oh, man, you really weren’t exaggerating when you said that all of your exes have been stupid,” said Magnus and tried not to laugh, but the more that Alec was telling him about his previous boyfriend, the more it was all starting to get ridiculous. Alec sighed and then eventually he nodded because it was true. All of them were good looking, yes, but they had nothing where the brain was supposed to be located. It was empty, probably some spiderweb, but that was about it. 

“Pretty on the outside, but there was nothing in here,” said Alec and pointed to his head. Magnus chuckled and then he nodded.

“Oh, I’ve met a lot of people like so,” said Magnus and then shook his head. “Especially the last person I’ve been with,” said Magnus and sighed sadly. “Her name is Camille and she is just… the worst truly. You’d think that because she’d an android she would be smart, y’know?” asked Magnus and Alec arched his brow. Ah, such a pity. “Shallow and obsessed with looks,” said Magnus. “Always nagging me to install new features on her. So fucking annoying,” said Magnus and rolled his eyes.

“Ugh, she sounds the worst,” said Alec.

“Yep, especially because she kind of used me, but well… what’s new?” asked Magnus, trying to make it sound like a joke, but his voice fell flat. Something told Alec that it wasn’t the first time that someone has taken Magnus for granted.  _ Idiots, all were idiots for not appreciating how amazing Magnus was!  _ “Ah, I somehow killed the mood, I see,” said Magnus and glanced at Alec, who quickly shook his head.

The two of them were located in the mall, after all. They did their bit of shopping, took the things back to Alec’s place and because they wanted to hang out more, they decided to take a stroll down to the mall and were just walking around the place, not really in the mood for shopping. They enjoyed each other’s company and that was all that mattered, Alec kind of getting lost in his fantasies. In his fantasy he was holding Magnus’ hand and everyone around him was jealous of him. He giggled at his own thoughts and was quickly brought back to reality when he glanced over to the side and saw that Magnus was looking at him.

Studying at him.

Alec’s jaw dropped -  _ could he read his mind?  _ Some models worked that way, Alec wasn’t sure and he immediately jumped back. “M-Magnus!” piped up Alec and Magnus glanced over to him and arched his brow.

“Hmm?”

“C-can you read minds?”

“Thankfully no,” said Magnus and laughed when he saw relief on his face. But it also got him interested - just what kind of things were on the other’s mind? Magnus’ smirk grew and he waggled his eyebrows. “Why do you ask though? What was on your mind, little grasshopper?”

“Nothing, just wondering,” said Alec. “For science.”

“Science?”

“Yes,” said Alec, hiding his flush away from the other and Magnus was laughing. He was always laughing and smiling when he was with Alec. 

“Pity,” said Magnus and Alec looked at him.

“About?”

“Me not being able to read minds,” said Magnus and Alec flinched and quickly glanced away. “Now I’m curious what was on your mind,” he said and Alec cleared his throat.  _ From the looks of it, it was pretty embarrassing so Magnus decided that it was for the best to stop teasing poor Alec.  _ “Only teasing,” said Magnus and winked. Alec huffed and then smiled eventually. “You’re adorable, though, there’s no need to be so jumpy around me,” said Magnus and Alec relaxed with relief.

“I know,” said Alec softly, but his heart skipped a beat when he was called adorable again.  _ Magnus was into him?  _ Or was he adorable in a… friend kind of way? Was that a thing? Alec was getting so many mixed signals, he couldn’t figure it out! Maybe it would have been the best if he asked? “So, are you single now or are you seeing someone?” asked Alec painfully slowly and Magnus looked at him.

“Oh, single,” said Magnus and Alec’s heart skipped a beat.

“Yeah?” asked Alec and grinned. “That’s, um, good to know, I-”

“Single is good, y’know? No chances of getting hurt and all of that,” said Magnus without really thinking and all the courage that Alec had left and he immediately dropped what he was about to say next. “Something wrong?” asked Magnus and looked over to his side. Alec smiled weakly and then shook his head.

“Nope, I’m fine,” said Alec and then huffed under his breath. 


	4. Chapter 4

Magnus usually loved the solitude of his place, being on his own - it was  _ good.  _ But lately that started to change. He liked being home, but he liked going over to Alec’s even more. It was fun hanging out with the other, they always had a nice time and even though he noticed that lately they’ve been only hanging out and weren’t really programming around like it was promised at the start, Magnus didn’t want to bring it up because he liked hanging out with Alec too much. He knew that he made a promise to Alec that he would teach him more things - and he did - but lately not much of teaching was going on. They were hanging out, going out like  _ friends.  _ It was a nice feeling and Magnus hoped that it would be able to last. He didn’t want to fuck up this friendship, so he wasn’t doing anything that Alec might had not liked. 

Deep down, Magnus knew that there was no thing that would Alec hold it against him, though. He knew that well enough and it made him feel safe. That was why he felt safe and sound around Alec - he was different from the others. He sensed that from the moment that they met and Alec just continued to impress him. There weren’t many people like that around; so open, always ready to give a new thing a try. Magnus liked that a lot about Alec; that he never really judged anything or anyone, he was always there to accept things as they were. Magnus smiled when he found himself thinking about Alec again and he looked towards the clock.

Ah, evening couldn’t arrive sooner. The two of them were going to be hanging out again and Magnus was feeling giddy inside. He wasn’t able to see Alec much in the last few days because both of them were busy. Alec with his work and Magnus with his own, it was a hectic week, but it was finally Friday and they were going to catch up for the lost time. Magnus wondered what kind of things they would be up to that day, but he knew that anything was going to be amazing as long as he would be spending time with Alec. Chewing on his lip, Magnus was about to stand up and clean around his apartment, but then he heard that annoying ringtone again and he whined.

_ Asmodeus.  _

Ah, yes, his father decided to call him. It was true that the two of them didn’t really speak a lot lately. Magnus was always over at Alec’s when he wasn’t working and that was how he didn’t really have the time to call his old man. The other was probably worried, huh? Magnus felt a stab of guilt somewhere along all those facts and in the end he answered the call, sat down and closed his eyes so that he and Asmodeus would be able to talk. Asmodeus was calling him through the virtual call option, so he knew that his father was really worried about him.  _ As long as he wasn’t going to be flying over to his place, Magnus was fine with a virtual call.  _

So, there he was sitting on his bed, taking the call and closing his eyes, patiently waiting for the virtual room to load up and he smiled when he looked over to his dad. He was sitting over by the sofa and Magnus arched his brow. What was with the location that his old man chose for the call? It was a coffee shop, but the very old kind. All of those were closed by now, Magnus had visited some of them while they were still running and he took a deep breath as he slowly came closer to his father in the virtual space and he grinned. Ah, perhaps his old man was feeling nostalgic. 

“Dad,” said Magnus and waved. Asmodeus hummed along and gave his son a happy nod. “What’s with this location?” asked Magnus as he was still looking around, but eventually sat down next to Asmodeus, who was found pouting and he shrugged and sighed in the very over-exaggerated manner that Magnus was used to.

“I felt a little bit nostalgic. Remember the good old days when we used to come to places like this?” asked Asmodeus and Magnus eventually nodded. It was truly a different time back then, but he wouldn’t call those  _ happy, good old days.  _ It was anything but that. “You don’t come along places like this anymore. Pity, they were so cozy,” he said and sighed again. “Maybe I should open a place like this. Wonder if I’d get any customers,” said Asmodeus and Magnus laughed.

“This is why you called me? To tell me about your plans of opening a coffee shop?” teased Magnus and Asmodeus crossed his arms on top of his chest and he shook his head, giving his son a look of confusion.

“You haven’t called in a while,” said Asmodeus. He wasn’t accusing his son of anything, he was merely stating it as a fact and Magns slowly nodded.

“Yep, I’ve been kind of busy,” said Magnus and tried not to make it too obvious. If he told Asmodeus the whole truth about Alec he wouldn’t be too happy. Asmodeus of all people wasn’t too fond of humans and he just laughed nervously. Asmdoeus hummed along and then he smiled. 

“Ah, that’s good,” said Asmodeus. “Still you could’ve given poor old me a little call,” said Asmodeus and sighed again. “I’ve been worried sick. I know I promised not to be calling every day, but still,” said Asmodeus and pouted a little bit. “You should have sent me a text or something like that. But well,” said Asmodeus and rubbed his palms together. Magnus was smiling - as always Asmodeus was a protective and worried father.  _ Almost as if he was his real, biologic father.  _

“I’m sorry, papa,” said Magnus and Asmodeus snorted and chuckled.

Magnus always resorted to calling him papa when he wanted something from him or when he was trying to act cute if he was guilty. Asmodeus knew his son well enough and he just shook his head and laughed. “It’s fine, I’m not really angry,” said Asmodeus and leaned back against the couch. “So,” he said. “You’ve been busy?” asked Asmodeus because he could see that his son was in high spirits, so it made him wonder. “Something good happened?” asked Asmodeus and Magnus slowly nodded.

“You could say so,” confessed Magnus and Asmdoeus waggled his eyebrows.

“Oh, so it’s like that,” said Asmodeus and winked. It was too obvious to Asmodeus that Magnus met someone new. It was written all over his face and Asmodeus could tell that Magnus was going to deny it at first - probably. He was like this and Asmodeus was used to it by now, smiling along. “So, who is it?” he asked and Magnus flinched.  _ How could he tell?  _ Magnus was always in shock how Asmodeus managed to read him like this, like an open book and he laughed nervously.

“It’s not like that,” said Magnus and Asmodeus laughed softly.

“Ah, then like how is it?” asked Asmodeus and Magnus’ cheeks reddened a little bit.

It was true that Magnus fancied Alec, but he was sure that it was nothing more than that; he was just a friend. He did like him a whole lot like  _ that _ , but it would have never worked out anyway. It was fun to think about  _ what if _ , but he was rational when it came to having an actual romantic relationship with a human. It never worked out, he felt it on his own skin before and it wasn’t worth risking it even if it looked like it could work out. It couldn’t. So, Magnus didn’t have any intentions of acting on his feelings.

“I mean I made a new friend, but-”

“But?” asked Asmodeus, his smile getting wider.

Magnus chuckled and shook his head. “It’s really not like that,” said Magnus and bit his lip. Asmodeus was confused because he could tell that his son liked this person more than a friend and usually Magnus didn’t really have any difficulties in the  _ love _ department. So he was quite curious to see why Magnus was- 

“Who are they?” asked Asmodeus, almost singing it out loud and Magnus was laughing.

“Just a friend that I’ve made. His name is Alec,” said Magnus and that was about it that he was going to tell his friend. At least that was the plan. 

“Alec, huh?” asked Asmodeus and Magnus rolled his eyes in a fond way. “So, so,” said Asmodeus, getting excited again. “Which model is he?” asked Asmodeus. Not like it mattered, his son was allowed to date anyone that he liked, but still - he was curious. Magnus flinched when his father asked that and he looked down quickly.  _ Way too quickly.  _ So quickly that it caught Asmodeus’ attention and he narrowed his eyes. What was wrong? Did he ask too much? Usually Magnus had no troubles telling him, he was always open with him who his friends were, but not this time? “What’s the matter?” asked Asmodeus and Magnus tried to make it less obvious, but there was no way that-

“Well, he’s… you see,” said Magnus. He could easily lie, but at the same time he didn’t like lying. 

“Yes?”

“Alec, he’s not really-” started Magnus, but then it all slowly started falling into place. Why did Magnus appear to be so nervous about it and not wanting to tell him about Alec sooner. Why he didn’t want to discuss which  _ model _ he was and his eyes widened. Asmodeus glanced to Magnus and looked at him in disbelief. Magnus huffed under his breath and then glanced down because he  _ knew. _ He knew that his father knew. 

“He’s human,” said Asmodeus and Magnus slowly nodded. “Magnus,” said Asmodeus and his voice dropped lower. Magnus flinched, but didn’t really dare to look up because he knew what was coming and he wasn’t really in the mood to listen how stupid he was for deciding to befriend a human.

“Dad, I know, you don’t have to-”

“We’ve talked about this,” said Asmodeus slowly and Magnus sighed under his breath. “Humans bring nothing but pain,” said Asmodeus and gave his son a stern look. Magnus was about to say that Alec was different but he knew that it wouldn’t really change much. When his father had his mind set on his opinion it was hard to make him see any other way. It was impossible, but still-

“He’s just a friend, I told you,” said Magnus softly.

“You have that look,” said Asmodeus and Magnus flinched a little bit when he heard that.  _ What kind of a look did he have?  _ Magnus wasn’t sure what his old man was talking about, but he didn’t like how he worded it and he chewed on his lip. “You like him,” said Asmodeus and Magnus looked away.

“I fancy him, but that’s all, it’s not like it’ll ever be more than that anyway,” said Magnus and held in his breath. It was… he was fine with it, really. “And I’m fine with it, don’t worry. It’s a silly crush and it will go away as soon-”

“It always starts out as an innocent little crush and then it ends up with you being hurt,” said Asmodeus and Magnus flinched. “Or worse,” he added and Magnus wasn’t in the mood to keep talking with his father anymore. He knew that the other was coming from a good place, but he didn’t even  _ try _ to understand that Alec wasn’t like that. Also Magnus wasn’t stupid - he didn’t get why he was always looking down on him, like he couldn’t make a good decision in his life. He was old enough, he knew what-

“Dad, maybe we should end this call,” said Magnus as his voice dropped an octave.

“I’m only looking out for you, Magnus, I don’t want you to get hurt again,” said Asmodeus and shook his head. “Do you remember Imasu?” asked Asmodeus and Magnus visibly tensed up and ignored the way that his stomach dropped.

“I told you to never mention that name again,” said Magnus and Asmodeus saw that he took things too far. Realising his mistake, Asmodeus decided that it was time to change the topic of their conversation.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-” stammered Asmodeus and then made a little pause. “So, tell me, how’s work?” asked Asmodeus, starting up a new conversation and even if Magnus was keen on telling his father about it, he felt like shit. 

_ Imasu, he never wanted to hear that name again. Ever.  _

* * *

Magnus was coming over to Alec’s place; the two of them spoke over the phone prior to that and Magnus sounded down for some reason. Alec didn’t know what happened, but Magnus sounded distant and kind of sad over the phone call and he hated it. He didn’t like how Magnus sounded. Even if the two of them had plans to finally move forward with Alec’s  _ studies,  _ so to speak, Alec had different plans for that day. As soon as he came home from work, he decided that he was going to surprise Magnus, so he decided that cooking was a way to go - who wouldn’t be cheered up by home cooked meal? Those were hard to come by these days, so Alec decided that he was going to cook. On his own. Yep.

Magnus was an android, he was very much like a human, so he could easily consume food. Alec didn’t really know if Magnus was a fan of it as he could easily live without it, but still - Alec was a man on a mission, he was a man with a plan. Alec went into it very confident; he cooked before (not alone, but this wasn’t the point). He was sure that he would manage to cook a decent meal; he didn’t hesitate, he jumped right into it and he got burned badly. Both metaphorically and literally, holding his hand under the running water as he was trying his best to get the pain out of his poor and burnt finger and he whined when he looked around the kitchen. 

It was a mess and Magnus was coming in 15 minutes. Alec looked over to the clock and his heart jumped.  _ No, it was five minutes.  _ Alec whined and he shook his head - he planned to cheer Magnus up not make his mood even worse, but when he would see this disaster coming over he would probably just leave. Or laugh. Well, maybe he was going to laugh at him and he was going to be in a better mood. That was the only thing that Alec had left, biting into his lip.

Alec did manage to cook _ something.  _ Alec didn’t know what it turned out to be, but it was something. It had a sort of menacing, scary aura around it and Alec whined sadly because he could tell that even Church was laughing at him. He was sitting on his chair and was just watching him. “You know, you could have helped me,” whined Alec and then he arched his brow. How was Church supposed to help? He was a cat. “At least stop making fun of me. I can see it in your eyes, you are judging me,” said Alec, slowly turning off the faucet and looked at his finger, blowing on it and he shook his head.

“Hang in there, finger, it’ll be okay,” said Alec and then walked back to the stove, jumping back when the food was looking back at him. Not  _ literally _ , but to him it seemed that it was looking back at him and laughing at him. “Well, this is a disaster, what do I do now’” asked Alec and then jumped when he heard the knock on the door and he swallowed thickly, straightened his clothes and fixed his hair. He looked like shit, probably, but he didn’t want to keep Magnus waiting.

Magnus was there!

Magnus put on a smile when Alec opened the door, but in reality he didn’t really feel like smiling. Or having a good time. Since the talk that he had with Asmodeus his emotions were all over the place. Because Asmodeus opened up the old wounds that never really healed properly and he tried to not think about it. That was why he couldn’t wait to get over to Alec’s place. It was a distraction, nothing but that. He didn’t care what Asmodeus said about Alec - Magnus knew him and he knew that he wasn’t like the others. But still, there were some things that it was still hard for Magnus to move forward from. Chewing on his lip, Magnus took a deep breath and looked up.

“Magnus, finally,” said Alec and seeing his smile made Magnus feel a lot better. Alec’s smile was soothing, it made him feel better, it made him feel at home and peaceful. His cheeks heated up a little bit and then he nodded, stepping through the door.

“Sorry, did I keep you waiting?” asked Magnus and Alec shook his head.

“No, I just missed you,” said Alec simply and Magnus looked at him.

“Y-yeah?” asked Magnus and smiled shyly. “I missed you too,” said Magnus in the end and then chuckled, glancing down and he could see that Alec was clutching on his hand. “All okay there?” asked Magnus because he could see that Alec’s finger was redder than it should have been and the other nodded.

“Yep, don’t have to worry about anything,” said Alec and waved it off, closing the door and he smiled softly. “You see I was trying to cook the old fashioned way and it didn’t really work out,” said Alec and Magnus smiled in amusement but was still worried about Alec’s hand. It looked really red, not as small of an issue like he wanted him to believe.

“Aww, you cooked?”

“Yes,” said Alec and smiled. “I  _ tried _ . It turned out a disaster,” said Alec and shook his head. “You sounded like you were in a bad mood the other day,” he said and Magnus tensed up, but Alec didn’t see that. “And I wanted to cheer you up. I mean I don’t know if you like eating, but I know that you  _ can _ , so I tried preparing something to cheer you up,” said Alec and huffed under his breath. “Well, I tried, but now it turned out like this. It’s better if you don’t go to the kitchen. I think I made the food somehow alive - I summoned the devil or something. It’s possessed and evil,” said Alec with such a serious voice that it made-

Magnus smiled. Not only smiled, but he started laughing as that sounded like the worst way to cook a food, but also…  _ Alec wanted to cheer him up?  _ Magnus liked food, yes, it was fun and he was… But that wasn’t the point of it. Alec went out of his way to cheer him up. He could hear that he wasn’t in the best mood? Alec was so thoughtful, he was an amazing person that really cared about him. Biting onto his lip, Magnus took a deep breath in and then he cocked his head to the side. Alec was smiling as well; it was a fin in his book. He made Magnus smile, so he was fine.

“Alec, you shouldn’t have,” said Magnus softly.

“Hmm?”

“You went out of your way to cheer me up,” muttered Magnus and Alec nodded.  _ Of course.  _ “And you got hurt, you shouldn’t have… I mean I’m not really worth-”

“Yes, you are,” said Alec quickly and Magnus stopped in the middle of his sentence. Alec was almost too much with how much he cared for him. He was truly such an amazing friend. A friend, yes! Just like he told Asmodeus before, they were only friends… right? Magnus’ cheeks reddened and Alec stepped closer. “As your best friend it is my duty to cheer you up when you feel down,” said Alec and waggled his eyebrows.

“You’re always so kind,” said Magnus softly and the two of them slowly made their way into the living room. Alec was blocking the way to the kitchen when Magnus wanted to take a look at the  _ possessed _ food. It was adorable, but also he wasn’t going to push it - Alec seemed embarrassed. “Your hand seems really red,” commented Magnus and looked down at the hand that Alec was still clutching. “Must hurt a lot?”

Alec shook his head. “It’s fine, I’ll be-”

“Give me your hand,” said Magnus softly and Alec chewed on his lip. “I can make it feel better,” said Magnus and Alec swallowed thickly. Alec knew that, yes, but he didn’t want Magnus to think that he- “It’s okay, you can trust me,” said Magnus and winked. Alec nodded in the end and placed his hand on top of Magnus’ palm and shuddered because Magnus’ palm was soft. And warm.  _ So warm.  _

“I trust you,” whispered Alec without even thinking twice about it and Magnus gave him a little smile.

“Well, good,” said Magnus softly and Alec gasped when Magnus’ hand suddenly turned much colder, but it wasn’t in an unpleasant way. It felt  _ good _ against the injured skin of his finger and he shuddered, Magnus giving him a little smile and he nodded. “This won’t heal it right away, but it will make the healing process much faster,” promised Magnus and gave him another wink. Alec huffed under his breath and then nodded, enjoying the chill waves that were being pumped onto his finger and Alec hummed. “Yes?” asked Magnus and chuckled.

“Thank you,” said Alec.

“Oh, it’s fine, you don’t-”

“No, I mean it, thank you,” said Alec because Magnus mentioned people taking him for granted and using him in the past; he didn’t want Magnus to think that he was like them but something told him that Magnus already knew that. The smile on Magnus’ lips wavered a little bit and he looked down. Something told him why Alec was putting so much meaning to those words and he appreciated it, smiling again and he nodded.

“You’re welcome,” said Magnus and then chuckled. “Thank you for going out of your way to cheer me up,” said Magnus and then looked towards the kitchen. “You sure you don’t wanna present me with the meal?” asked Magnus and Alec quickly shook his head.

“Oh, no, no, I don’t want to poison you,” said Alec and Magnus lauged.

“Rest assured, you can’t get rid of me so easily,” said Magnus.

“Well, you laugh now, but I don’t know what powers I gave to that… monstrosity,” said Alec and Magnus was again laughing. “Feeling better?” asked Alec and Magnus’ laughter immediately died otu and Alec bit his lip. He shouldn’t have asked, he was going too far, wasn’t he? Alec bowed his head down apologetically and then bit his lip. Ugh, he always ran his mouth without thinking what was coming out of them and he was angry with himself because Magnus was frowning again.

Magnus sighed and then gave Alec a little smile. “I’ll be okay,” said Magnus and he could tell that Alec wanted to do more than just to listen to him say that he was  _ okay.  _ “Just some old demons of mine trying to catch up with me, but I know how to battle them just fine,” said Magnus and Alec knew that Magnus meant what he said, but still-

“Okay,” said Alec and then made a pause. “But if you ever need a talk or-or a hug,” said Alec and his cheeks reddened. Magnus’ eyes widened and he looked at Alec.  _ A hug?  _ It was so long since someone offered him a hug as an aid for his feelings. “Tell me, I’ll be always here to listen,” said Alec softly and Magnus eventually smiled, but inside he was screaming because something told him that his father might have a point this time around as well. 

_ His feelings for Alec were growing.  _

And he didn’t know how to stop it. 


	5. Chapter 5

“My life sucks,” said Alec and Jace glanced over to him, while Izzy snorted and rolled her eyes. Izzy and Jace were visiting Alec’s place; it’s been a while since they all last saw each other face to face, so they decided to come by Alec’s place to say a quick hello. Alec was supposed to be meeting with Magnus later that day, but Magnus again cancelled their plans and Alec was feeling sorry for himself about it. Izzy knew all about that because Alec was going on about Magnus constantly, but Jace didn’t know what was happening. His brother mentioned having a new friend named Magnus, but that was about it.

“Why?” asked Jace and arched his brow.

“Magnus is again busy today,” whined Alec and shook his head. “It all sucks. Do you know how much I was looking forward to seeing him again? We didn’t see each other last week and now today he finally had some free time, but again work came in the middle of it all,” said Alec. He felt bad, he missed Magnus and he hated that work was always coming in the middle of them. But then again, work was more important.  _ Though Alec had suspicions about work, maybe it was something.  _ Maybe Magnus didn’t want to hang out with him again. But why would that be it though? They never got into a fight, so it was just Alec overthinking about it all.

“Aw, you poor thing,” said Izzy with a smile on her face and Alec rolled his eyes.

“It’s not funny,” said Alec and glanced down. “They’re making him work way too much, I bet he’s tired,” said Alec and shook his head. “It’s not fair, they should let him be. Evil, evil work,” ranted Alec and Jeace looked over to him and hummed along. Oh, Alec sure liked this Magnus a lot. They were also spending a lot of time together according to Izzy and from what it looked like, Alec had feelings for him? 

“Buddy,” said Jace and Alec looked at his brother. “You sure talk about this Magnus a lot,” said Jace and Alec’s cheeks reddened. Alec was very aware of that fact and wasn’t really trying to hide it. The birds outside were chirping about how Alec felt about Magnus; everyone knew it, but Magnus. Argh! “Do you like him?” asked Jace and Alec nodded and thus surprised Jace with how forward he was about it this time. Usually he was hiding it from them, but not this time, huh?

“I do,” said Alec and then glanced down. “Pity he doesn’t like me back,” said Alec and then sighed sadly. Jace looked at Izzy, who shrugged. She didn’t know if they had a talk about each other’s feelings with Magnus, but Alec sounded pretty sure of the fact that Magnus wouldn’t have the same feelings for him.

“Aw, you can’t be for sure,” said Izzy quickly and Alec glanced at her.

“He friendzoned me,” said Alec and huffed. “Kind of. I’m not quite sure, but I tried asking him about it and he sort of implied that he was never going to have a relationship again,” said Alec and rolled his eyes. “Which I know is just a thing that people say, but still,” said Alec and pouted. “I chickened out from telling him that I liked him like that and now is probably too late. I mean I feel like I’m in the friendzone, but well,” said Alec “It’s better being his friend than not being with him at all.”

“Ah, you have it really bad,” said Jace because he could tell that Alec liked the guy quite a bit and Alec whined and nodded. 

“But I’m fine with it, really, as long as I’m able to see him and spend time with him, I’m okay,” said Alec and glanced down. “But now I can’t even see him,” said Alec and pouted. “I try not to call as often because he’s busy and I don’t want to disturb him, but I miss seeing his face, I miss hearing his voice and I miss spending time with him. All sucks now,” said Alec and Jace wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him closer.

“Aw, man, you’re really in love with him,” said Jace and Alec nodded and pouted.

“I know,” whined Alec.

“It’ll be fine,” said Izzy with a smile. “His work will be over and you two will be able to see each other again,” said Izzy and Alec cheered up a little bit. “And maybe you can soon tell him how you feel and he will return you the feelings and you two can live happily ever after,” said Izzy and Alec laughed.

“I want this reality,” said Alec and Izzy ruffled his hair.

“It’ll all be okay, you’ll see.”

* * *

As Magnus’ feelings for Alec started to grow, he decided to put his foot down and stop it. And the only option that he saw really was to stop hanging out with the other. He knew that it made him a bad person, but he didn’t know what to do about it. He was thinking more and more lately about Alec, he liked spending time with him, it was so much fun but he didn’t want it to get too deep. It was getting deeper and deeper, he was falling for him too fast and it pissed him off.  _ He really didn’t learn anything from his past mistakes.  _ He hated not being able to see Alec, but he was afraid because he knew what was going to happen. Things were going to be good for a little while, but then it wasn’t going to be enough for Magnus. He was going to be again left hanging. He didn’t want to get hurt. Not again because it hurt too much the last time around and he came  _ really _ close to completely shutting off the switch that made him feel things.

Magnus liked feeling things, they made him feel…  _ human.  _ He liked the good kind of emotions, but he hated the other side that came with good feelings. As much as he liked happiness and joy, all of the things that he felt around Alec, he knew that the pain that was about to come with it was going to be ten times the amount. Magnus didn’t want to put himself at risk, so he started pulling away. As much as Alec wanted to hang out with him, Magnus started coming up with excuses and he hated himself for it. He lied to Alec and he didn’t like it, but what else was he supposed to do? He couldn’t tell him how he felt, Alec wouldn’t even-

Magnus was sitting alone in his apartment and was feeling sorry for himself. Magnus was listening to his father’s advice, he wasn’t seeking out Alec anymore, but what he also didn’t like was the fact that he knew that he was hurting Alec.  _ Alec declared himself his best friend, he liked spending time with him as well.  _ Magnus knew how much Alec liked spending time with him and he could hear the amount of disappointment in his voice every time that he would cancel their plans. At first Alec took it as not a big of a deal - Magnus claimed that he was busy at work, that he had to do more work after his official hours were done. But that only managed to work for about a week or two. After that… Alec was starting to get suspicious and Magnus could sense it. 

It wasn’t easy, but Magnus decided to ignore. He decided to ignore that Alec’s voice was getting quiet once he would tell him that he didn’t have time again. He ignored how silent Alec was becoming and how…  _ he was calling him less and less.  _ Magnus knew that it was for the best, the fact that he was ignoring Alec was working. Maybe Alec would take the hint and stop calling him. It was for the best to stop things before the feelings would get too deep. Stay away and ignore how much he wanted to see Alec was what Magnus was trying to do, yet he was miserable.

Was it too late already? Did he get too deep in a matter of a few weeks? Alec was different, he knew that he wouldn’t hurt him, but his fear prevailed over his rational way of thinking. Magnus was scared shitless of ever falling in love again because in his opinion he wasn’t worth love, not really. After all, he was still an android. A robot. He couldn’t… feel things. He had been told this over and over again. And he knew that he managed to  _ feel _ things, it was real to him, but not to humans. To humans his feelings were codes, not really real. It was- Magnus huffed under his breath and he snapped back to reality. 

“Anyway,” said Magnus and tried to ignore the time ticking away. He was supposed to be going over to Alec today. He did promise that he would show up this time because he couldn’t handle hearing Alec’s sad voice. He could hear his heart breaking so he promised that he would show up. That was yesterday, but now… he wasn’t so sure. He was sitting in his living room, he was supposed to be there five minutes ago, but he didn’t even leave his apartment and he chewed on his lip. “It’s fine,” said Magnus and then huffed under his breath. “Alec will move on, he soon won’t even remember me, so it’s fine,” said Magnus and then chewed on his lip. 

But Alec did care and not even ten minutes later, he could see on his computer that he had an incoming call from the other. Magnus tried to ignore the call, but he couldn’t. At least he owed the other an explanation. Another lie, another excuse that was going to even hurt Alec more. But it would drive him away, right? It was a good thing, it was for the best. Magnus kept repeating that to himself like a mantra, over and over again and he put on a little smile when he answered the call, Alec’s face quickly plastered over the screen and Magnus jumped.

Magnus didn’t expect it to be a video call, he wasn’t really paying attention when he picked up, so when he saw Alec happily smiling and looking through the camera, Magnus felt a clutch at his chest. No, this wasn’t- “Magnus,” said Alec happily and waved to the camera, biting into his lip because from the looks of it, Magnus was in his apartment? Alec felt a little bit uneasy, but maybe the other was just running late.  _ He promised.  _ Magnus didn’t break his promises. Not ever at least. 

“Alec, hi,” said Magnus and tried not to look at Alec. He looked so happy and excited and Magnus was about to trample all over his good mood and excitement. Magnus felt like he was the worst being possible and he clasped his hands together. It would be easier if he just ignored how he felt and went over to Alec, but he  _ couldn’t.  _ “A-about today, I have to-”

“You’re coming, right?” asked Alec happily and Magnus felt another arrow of guilt hitting him right in the middle of his chest and he didn’t reply. Alec didn’t let that ruin his mood because he was sure that Magnus was coming.  _ He promised.  _ A promise meant a lot to Alec and he waited for a little while. “Will you be late?” asked Alec and hummed along. “It’s fine, I can order us some dinner if you’d like. I won’t bother cooking again,” said Alec and laughed. Magnus didn’t reply.

Magnus didn’t reply for a while and that was what started to scare Alec. Silence. He wouldn’t look at him and Alec’s heart fell to the pit of his stomach. Alec worried that he might had done something wrong. Magnus suddenly started acting very… weird around him. He wouldn’t come over anymore, he never had any time and he was…  _ worried.  _ At first he didn’t think much of it but as the time progressed he worried that maybe he said something wrong.  _ Did he offend Magnus in any shape or form?  _

Alec worried, but then yesterday Magnus sounded like his old self. He was all smiling and was promising that he would be coming for sure. But now Alec wasn’t so sure anymore and he bit down onto his lip. Hard. “You are coming, right?” asked Alec and Magnus slowly shook his head, giving Alec a clear no. Alec’s eyes widened and he was immediately spiraling out of control. “But you,” said Alec and then shook his head. He didn’t understand; they’ve always gotten along so well. Magnus would tell him how much he missed him when they weren’t together. Why was it so suddenly now that everything started to change?

“Magnus, you promised that you’d come,” said Alec and his voice told Magnus just how hurt Alec was. Magnus didn’t dare to look at Alec; he didn’t have that privilege because he hurt him and he didn’t allow himself to bear to look at Alec. He was the worst. “W-why?” asked Alec and tried to stay optimistic. “Look, if you don’t have the time to come over, I can come here, huh?” asked Alec and cheered up again. “I will bring us some yummy food,” he said and nodded. “And we can hang out or if you have a lot of work to do, I-I can help you out,” said Alec and nodded. 

“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” said Magnus and Alec narrowed his eyes.  _ Why not?  _

“Is it something that I’ve done?” asked Alec. Alec was a very honest and blunt person, he always told him what was on his mind and now he finally decided to ask what was bothering him. He needed to know if he wanted to move forward. He was going to apologise to Magnus immediately. “Is-is everything okay? Look if it’s something that is bothering you, you can tell me, you know?” asked Alec when he remembered that Magnus mentioned some bad memories from his past catching up with him and he wanted to be there for him.

“No, Alec, it’s not you,” said Magnus finally and he smiled sadly. “I just don’t have time, there’s much to do and I need to focus. I-”

“You’re lying to me,” said Alec and Magnus finally looked up. Magnus was about to deny it, but Alec didn’t let him. “Don’t try to deny it, Magnus, I can tell,” said Alec and looked down. “You won’t look at me, even, you’re trying to avoid me for some reason and I don’t like it. I hate not being able to be with you in person,” said Alec and thus Magnus’ guilt got even worse. “I have no problems in giving you the time and space with whatever is bothering you, but you shouldn’t be going through hard stuff alone,” said Alec and Magnus pursed his lips. 

“It’s not-”

“Are you angry with me?”

“No,” said Magnus quickly and this time he looked at him. Alec smiled. Okay, good, that was the truth. That was a start. So there was something else that was keeping Magnus from coming over. Alec chewed on his lip and he slowly exhaled, feeling a little bit relieved because he really wouldn’t be able to move on if he did manage to anger Magnus in any way. Or if he offended him and- “You didn’t make me upset, it’s not… it’s really all just me,” said Magnus and Alec perked up.

“I want to help you,” said Alec, stating it and Magnus waved it off.

“It’s fine, Alec, you are a busy guy. You should just focus on more important things,” said Magnus. He didn’t really know from where all that bad mood was suddenly coming, but he was just.... not good. “I have way too many problems, Alec, I’m not… you should find another friend to hang out with. I’ll only bring you down with me, I mean that’s the only thing I’m good at,” said Magnus and Alec’s eyes widened.  _ Wait, wait, wait… what was he talking about now?  _ “Forget about me.”

“Forget you? What are you talking about?” asked Alec, who was now getting upset.  _ How could he forget Magnus like that when he was falling for him more and more?  _ Alec didn’t have any expectations, he wasn’t going to push his feelings onto Magnus, but he also wasn’t going to walk away just like that. He was going to stay his best friend, keeping his feelings locked away, which sucked, but it didn’t matter. Also, how could he claim to- “That’s it,” said Alec and Magnus looked up. “You’ll stop being such a stubborn man, you will allow me to come there or you will come here and let me show you that you are worthy of love”, said Alec sharply and Magnus’ eyes widened. “Let me love you, the offer for the hug still stands and if you think I’ll stand there and watch you do this to yourself, you’re mistaken,” said Alec and Magnus was speechless for a very long time.

Magnus blinked a few times and he glanced down, feeling his cheeks heat up.  _ Crap, crap, why did Alec have to say that?  _ It only made him want to see him more, not to mention how much he wanted a hug from Alec. It would feel amazing.  _ Let me love you.  _ Magnus shuddered and he bit back a little shudder that was coming up. Alec meant it in a friendly way, Magnus was sure of that, but at the end of it all it didn’t even matter of what kind of love Alec was talking about.

_ Alec wanted to show him how much he appreciated him.  _ How much he cared for him. Magnus tried to hide his face away from the camera and as Magnus was trying to deal with the weight of Alec’s words that were just dumped on him, Alec was slowly realising what he said. That came out way too aggressive, didn’t it? Oh, now he had done it. Alec chewed on his lip, his cheeks bright red and he tried to back-paddle. “Because you are my friend,” said Alec quickly.  _ Love could have a lot of different meanings and he was trying to hold his feelings back and not scare Magnus away.  _

Magnus quickly looked up to the screen and cleared his throat.  _ Of course it was in the friendship way of… love.  _ Right? “I know,” said Magnus quietly and then pressed his lips together. Alec perked up - was that disappointment? Alec didn’t really know, but he decided to blame it on his own wishful thinking; he wished that Magnus would return him the feeling too much and he swallowed thickly. Still, he felt frustrated and he didn’t want to end the call like this. He wanted to see Magnus in person, it didn’t feel right leaving him alone like that. 

“Magnus,” said Alec and then clasped his hands together. “Can I please come over?” asked Alec and Magnus looked up at him. “I’m worried,” said Alec, not hiding how he felt and Magnus glanced towards the camera and clenched his jaw. It wasn’t fair, he knew that it wasn’t. Alec was worrying about him, he was telling him exactly how he felt and yet… was he really going to lie to him again? Magnus knew that it would be for the best, but in the end he nodded. At the end of it all, he didn’t want to be alone. Being alone made it all worse and Alec’s face cheered up after he saw Magnus’ nod.

“Okay,” muttered Magnus. “But you can’t stay long, I’ll-”

“No, it’s fine, even if I see you only for five minutes, I’m fine with all,” said Alec and Magnus bit his lip and glanced down again.  _ Alec should stop making him fall in love for his even harder, he didn’t know what was to become of him if this was going to continue for much longer! _

* * *

It didn’t matter to Alec for how long he was going to be able to be over at Magnus’; all that mattered was that he was going to see him in person. He missed him so much; it’s been two weeks and he knew that he was too impatient, but what else was he supposed to do? Still, he braced himself, quickly heading out as soon as Magnus told him the address of his place and it didn’t take him too long for him to reach it, quickly knocking on the door of Magnus’ place and the door was soon opened. Alec thought that it would take Magnus longer since he was avoiding him lately, but he was glad that Magnus was willing to open the door.

Magnus felt his mood elating when he heard a knock on the door and he quickly was over at the door, opening it for Alec and he barely contained his excitement when he saw Alec standing there. Still, when he realised just how happy he was to see the other, Magnus’ smile faltered and he glanced away. But it felt good to know that someone was worried about him. His smile was back and he bit down onto his lip as he didn’t really know what to do. He opened the door wider for Alec to step inside, but he didn’t know what to say.

What should he say? He should have apologised for treating Alec like that; he could see that Alec looked beyond worried, but he was also happy. Happy to see him and it warmed up Magnus to see that. But he felt horrible and guilty - he hurt Alec’s feelings, no? It was beyond obvious that he was lying to him and then all of what he said before… That it was better for Alec to move on and forget about him. How was he supposed to move past it? Alec was of course going to ask him what that was all about and-

Alec blinked a few times when he saw Magnus. He was struggling to say something and Alec felt his heart falling a little bit. Magnus was trying to say something, Alec’s heart ached for him because of what he said before. He wanted to ask him more about it, but he didn’t know if that would really do any good. He didn’t know what that was all about and talking about it was only to bring more pain for Magnus. Which was the last thing that he wanted to do. The only thing that he could really do…

… was to walk over to him, wrap his arms around him and pull him close, into a tight embrace. Magnus’ eyes widened when he suddenly found himself in the warm embrace and it took him a while to realise that Alec was hugging him. He went without receiving a proper hug for  _ decades.  _ Magnus huffed under his breath and he froze up completely. Alec had a sad smile on his lips and he reached up with his hand to cup the back of Magnus’ neck and he pulled him even closer. Fuck, he shouldn’t be this close, but-

“Alec,” gasped Magnus and Alec shook his head.

“It’s okay, Magnus,” said Alec and Magnus slowly reacted, reminding himself how hugging worked. He brought his arms up and clutched on Alec’s shirt, allowing himself to close his eyes. “It’ll all be okay,” said Alec, hoping that his words were going to help Magnus, at least cheer him up a little bit, but- Magnus shuddered in Alec’s arms and slowly nodded. Hearing that coming from Alec made him smile. “I’ll make sure,” said Alec and then gritted his teth. He was supposed to keep his feelings hidden away, but- “Fuck, I like you so much,” whispered Alec into Magnus’ ear and Magnus’ eyes widened.

_ Wait, what… what was that? _


	6. Chapter 6

“Fuck, I like you so much,” whispered Alec into Magnus’ ear and his eyes widened. Wait, what was that? Did Alec really… tell him that he  _ liked him?  _ Magnus needed a while to actually process what was going on, chewing on his lip as he was trying to get himself under control. Alec truly did care a lot about him and Magnus felt at ease there in Alec’s arms. They felt like a safe haven that was protecting him from all worries that were troubling him in this world and yet he was…  _ he had so many questions.  _ He felt his cheeks heating up, his entire body was heating up and he was actually beginning to worry that his system was going to overheat and stop working. That was a bit silly of Magnus to think, but still - he was having a hard time of not taking those words for what they really were.  _ Alec having romantic feelings for him was such a nice thought, but it probably wasn’t real, right? _

Alec completely lost himself in the hug, he didn’t really register what he had just said - at least not yet. He was too focused on how much he loved feeling Magnus so close up against him. It was like they  _ fit _ , it was hard to explain, but it was how he felt. Chewing on his lip, Alec felt Magnus kind of stiffening up in his arms and he narrowed his eyes. Wait, what was wrong? He slowly started grasping the meaning of what he had just said out loud. He meant to keep those feelings locked away, but now what? He blurted them out just like that? His eyes widened and he swallowed; how was he supposed to explain this now?

“Y-you like me?” whispered Magnus and slowly started pulling away. Alec was starting to panic; he didn’t want the hug to end quite yet. But Magnus was already pulling back and he couldn’t really force him to stay there with him much longer than that and he chewed on his lip, glancing down. Magnus cocked his head to the side and decided to brace himself.  _ He needed to take this slow and rational.  _ He needed to be- “W-well, I sure hope so,” said Magnus and laughed nervously. “I-I mean it would be kind of bad if you didn’t like me. We’re friends and all of that. Friends are supposed to like each other,” said Magnus and Alec held in his breath.

In a way, Alec could understand why Magnus was asking him that. It was to make sure of what kind of a  _ like _ he was talking about and a part of him wanted to go along with that. That he liked him as a friend, but at the same time it felt like he would be lying. If he pretended that he liked Magnus only as a friend. But the plan was not to tell him.  _ He didn’t consider this kind of possibility though; when Magnus would ask him so up front about it.  _ Of course it was all his fault, Alec knew that. It was his fault that Magnus was now asking him about his feelings and he chewed on his lip. Magnus was nervous because Alec wasn’t saying much and he clasped his hands together. What was with that silence?

“Y-yeah,” said Alec painfully slowly and Magnus smiled. It was to be expected, but at the same time he felt a little bit disappointed. Alec’s stomach fell to the pit of his stomach - yep, he definitely couldn’t lie to Magnus even if he… he hoped that he wouldn’t destroy their friendship if he came out and said it. Alec placed his arms on top of Magnus’ shoulders and Magnus glanced up at him. “Actually no,” said Alec and Magnus’ eyes widened. He was confused.

“No? You don’t like me as a friend?” asked Magnus, laughing softly because he was getting mixed signals from Alec and the other nodded, but then again shook his head and he arched his brow. 

“N-no, I mean I do like you as a friend, but I also,” said Alec and bit his lip, holding himself back a little bit. He felt his heart hammering against his ribcage and Magnus looked up at him.  _ But also?  _ Magnus felt nervous and excited at the same time. However, even if Alec was about to tell him that he liked him in a romantic way, would it change things? There was no way that Magnus was prepared to start a new relationship. It didn’t really matter if Alec was human or not, it was- Alec was trying to figure out what to do. His heart was telling him to tell Magnus how he truly felt, but his head was trying to tell him that he needed to think about it for a little while. If he told Magnus, he was risking their friendship, right? He was fine if he didn’t really tell Magnus about it, but he also didn’t want to lie to him.  _ If he lied and Magnus found out eventually-  _ “I-I also like you more than just a friend,” finally said Alec and glanced down.

Alec shocked himself as well when he said that, but he was raised in a way to always do what his heart was telling him was the right thing to do and this felt… right. To tell Magnus. He had the right to know and Alec wanted to get it off of his chest. Magnus was trying to slowly wrap his head around what had really happened; Alec really did come out and said that. That he liked him more than a friend and Magnus huffed under his breath. He didn’t know what to do or say and he was in awe how easy it was for Alec to be honest. He liked that a lot about him, he felt like Alec was never really capable of lying.  _ At least not to him. _

“Alec,” said Magnus and Alec shook his head.

“I-it’s fine, I know it’s a lot to take in,” said Alec and Magnus bit his lip and listened to the other in silence for a little while. “Honestly I didn’t really plan on telling you. My plan was to stay quiet and continue being your friend because it’s enough for me, y’know?” asked Alec and Magnus’ eyes were growing. “Just being with you means so much to me and-and that’s why I didn’t want to risk our friendship,” said Alec and then slowly pulled his hands back because Magnus stiffened up even more. “I know you probably don’t feel the same, which is totally fine,” said Alec softly and Magnus looked up at him again. “I don’t expect anything by telling you. It kind of slipped out and I know I could easily pretend that it’s just in a friendship way, but that felt like lying,” said Alec, finally ending his speech and then he hoped that Magnus was going to receive his confession well. “If you want me to stay away from you from this point on, I will completely understand,” he carried on and then finally stopped talking. He talked a lot and he needed to give Magnus the time to process it all. Perhaps it was for the best if he left?

Magnus was slowly thinking about it all. Well, he could notice it before that Alec fancied him, he could see him stealing glances at him, he called him beautiful on more than one occasion and it felt more than just him being  _ nice _ to him. Alec fancied him, which Magnus didn’t think too much of it. But now that he got an actual confession; that he liked him on a romantic level, things got different. It got more complicated. Magnus didn’t want it to be too complicated, but now there was another aspect that he needed to think about and as much as he wanted to pretend that Alec didn’t tell him all of that, but that would be cruel of him. 

Magnus’ first reaction was to run away and go back into hiding, but that would push Alec away. It would hurt his feelings and it was unfair. It was unfair since Alec was nothing but honest to this point and he slowly glanced down. He wanted it to be only fun, but he knew that at one point… it would get more complicated. Magnus wasn’t ready for any kinds of new relationships, but at the same time he wasn’t going to push Alec away. And also-

Alec wanted to pull back and step away because Magnus wasn’t saying much, but then the other finally moved and slowly wrapped his fingers around Alec’s wrist and gently kept him in place. Alec’s eyes widened and he chewed on his lip.  _ What was going on?  _ “Magnus, what are you-”

“D-don’t stay away,” said Magnus softly and Alec cheered up. 

“Really?”

“I mean it, this doesn’t change that we-we’re friends,” said Magnus and Alec nodded happily. That was more than he expected! But Magnus was still not done, he wanted to tell Alec more. That he wasn’t sure of his whole feelings for him, but there definitely was something. More than a friendship. “I, um, I also,” said Magnus and then made a little pause. Alec’s eyes were growing. Yes? “I’m not really sure, but I-I do fancy you,” said Magnus and Alec’s cheeks were immediately bright red.  _ Magnus fancied him! _ “And I feel that there’s something definitely there,” said Magnus and Alec’s heart was beating fast and uneven.  _ There was something there!  _ “I’m just… I don’t know how I… if I’m ready, I’m not, I'm not ready for something serious,” he said and angrily glanced down. “I’m not even sure if-”

“Magnus,” said Alec and interrupted Magnus in the middle of his sentence. Magnus stopped talking and swallowed thickly, waiting for Alec to say what was on his mind because he didn’t know if what he said even made sense. Alec felt like he was flying, he was floating. He was on cloud nine because Magnus just told him that he fancied - what was better news than this? Alec couldn’t stop smiling. “Calm down, it’s okay, it’s,” said Alec and smiled, shaking his head and then made a little pause. “You fancy me?” asked Alec, again blurting it out and Magnus flinched, but nodded.

“I-I mean-”

“Crap, that makes me so happy,” said Alec and then cleared his throat. “Sorry, I’m just,” said Alec and puffed his cheeks. “It’s fine, yes, I need to calm down,” said Alec and Magnus waited. He didn’t know what to do really. He was happy that his words made Alec happy, but he didn’t want to get his hopes up too much. He didn’t want to hurt Alec because he really wasn’t sure how he felt about. He cared for Alec a lot, but it was complicated. He hoped that Alec would understand. “Look,” said Alec and Magnus finally dared to look up at him.

“Yeah?”

“I understand,” said Alec and then chewed on his lip. “It’s okay, I know that you have some things to work out,” said Alec and Magnus smiled sadly. That was an understatement. “I don’t know what’s it all about and-and it’s okay, but thank you for telling me,” said Alec and Magnus smiled again. “I’ll give you all the time that you need to work out how you really feel about me and the other things,” said Alec and Magnus slowly nodded. “It’s totally okay if you change your mind,” said Alec and shrugged. “You know - feelings come and go, so it’s completely fine,” said Alec. “But for now… I’m so happy,” said Alec and Magnus finally smiled.  _ A real smile. _

“Alec, you-”

“I mean that you, Magnus Bane… a literal God, likes little old and plain me,” said Alec and Magnus laughed softly. “I mean this is huge news. You fancy me, do you know how much this boosts my self esteem?” asked Alec and Magnus’ laughter was growing louder. Alec really was an adorable dork. 

“I mean,” said Magnus. “You’re quite easy on the eyes, y’know?” asked Magnus and Alec flushed even more.

“I am?”

“Duh,” said Magnus and Alec grinned proudly and happy. He looked way too proud of himself and Magnus chuckled. “I mean you’re like one of those Greek gods, so handsome. Tall, dark and handsome. Totally my type,” said Magnus and then bit his tongue. He needed to keep it together, he didn’t want Alec to think that he was-

“Greek god?” asked Alec and grinned. “Adonis!”

“Well, he wasn’t really-”

“You’re really the best, Magnus!” said Alec and Magnus shyly looked down. Oh, Magnus wasn’t so sure about that. The one that was the best was Alec. He was nothing but amazing to him so far and Magnus was very grateful.

* * *

Things slowly back to normal after that. Magnus and Alec had that long talk and everything was back to normal. Alec was spending his free time with Magnus again and was the happiest that he has been in a long time. As Magnus also felt  _ good.  _ He felt better after he had that long talk with Alec, when the two of them came clean about their feelings and it always warmed him up knowing that Alec liked him so much. He just hoped that he wasn’t going to make Alec wait for too long. But he also knew that Alec was a very patient man and he felt at ease with him. He felt more comfortable sharing things with him, so maybe one day he could open up to him completely. 

There they were, slowly walking over to Alec’s place. They were again hanging out, visiting a few places in the town and now Magnus was walking Alec back to his place. Unfortunately he really did have a lot of things to do for his work this time around and he wouldn’t be able to go up to Alec’s place, but still… he got to spend hours with Alec that day and he was beyond happy about it. So was Alec. He was literally glowing there next to Magnus. “Had fun today?” asked Magnus.

“Oh, I had so much fun,” said Alec and his smile widened, looking down as they walked side by side. Their hands were almost touching, swallowing thickly. Ah, one day he was going to get to hold Magnus’ hand. Well, he still hoped that he would get to do that one day. But for not, his fantasy world was enough. “You sure we weren’t out for too long? I mean you mentioned you still have some work to do and-”

“Yep,” said Magnus and winked. “I missed hanging out with you,” said Magnus with a wink and Alec’s cheeks reddened.

“Me too,” said Alec softly and Magnus’ smile widened even more. 

“You’re free tomorrow too?” asked Magnus, his voice hopeful and Alec grinned.

“For you always,” said Alec and then realised how that sounded. “I mean sure. Yeah, free. Let’s chill, no biggie,” said Alec and Magnus snorted.

“You’re such a dork,” said Magnus.

“But you love it, right?”

“Yeah,” said Magnus and both of them started laughing. 

There was a carefree mood between them as they continued their way down the street. Alec’s place was around the corner and when they reached the building, they didn’t part quite yet. They continued talking in front of Alec’s apartment building for a little longer because it was just so hard to say goodbye. Alec’s smile was wide as he was looking down into Magnus’ eyes as they were now talking about Church, who was probably already waiting Alec by the door. Even if he wasn’t really fond of affection from Alec, it was still clear that the cat loved Alec and Magnus was laughing along when Alec continued whining about Church not appreciating him properly.

“Aw, Alec,” said Magnus and snorted. “You know that he loves you, he’s a cat. They are like this,” said Magnus and Alec pouted. But Church didn’t have any troubles showing affection to Magnus. It wasn’t fair. Alec whined and Magnus chuckled and leaned closed to the other and gave him a little wink. “You know that he’s already by the door and is waiting for you. He loves you very dearly,” said Magnus and the pout was soon melted off of Alec’s face and he nodded in the end.

“I suppose you’re right,” said Alec and then chewed on his lip. “His birthday is coming up, I should prepare something for him,” said Alec and Magnus chuckled.

“Church has a birthday?”

“Well, I celebrate it on the day that I found him,” said Alec and smiled. “I fixed him up and in a way he was reborn,” said Alec and Magnus gave him a little nod. That was very true. “It’s gonna be next week. I will throw him a party,” said Alec and Magnus smiled.  _ A man that threw a party for the birthday of his cat.  _ As if Alec couldn’t be more  _ his _ type. It was ridiculous. Magnus chuckled and he grinned.

“Will I be invited?”

“I think Church will never look at me again if I don’t invite you,” said Alec and Magnus laughed. “Of course you’re invited,” said Alec and leaned a bit closer. He was about to finally say his goodbyes to Magnus even if he didn’t want to do that quite yet, but then there was an annoying laughter coming from around the corner and he flinched, slowly lifting his gaze up and his eyes widened when he saw someone coming closer to the two of them and he pressed his lips together, suddenly feeling his blood boiling with anger because a single glance at the person was able to make him feel the amount of rage that he couldn’t even put into words.

Magnus was a little bit confused to what was going on, but there was a tall man coming closer to the two of them and he narrowed his eyes. Magnus tensed up a little bit because he didn’t get any good vibes from the other human. Magnus chewed on his lip and he looked towards Alec, who was visibly fighting back his anger and he looked then down. So, Alec wasn’t a fan of this man then. Magnus took a deep breath and Alec grumbled under his breath. The one that was coming closer to the two of them was no other than Victor Aldertree - someone that Alec couldn’t really stomach and he had his own reasons. He had a very clear reason as to why he didn’t like the dick.

Alec couldn’t believe that the idiot was a friend of his a while back. Well, friendship was more of a loose term that he liked to describe their friendship, but they were on good terms at first. When Alec first moved into the area, Victor was the first person that he actually ran into. Alec didn’t know many people and he was very bad at making new friends at first, so he was more than happy to see that someone was willingly talking to him. And it wasn’t hard at all to talk to Victor;at least at first. It appeared that they had the same interests, they were into the same things more or less.

That soon took a change after Victor learned what was his hobby - fixing up robots and caring for them. That triggered something in Aldertree and after the idiot said some very disgusting things, Alec made sure that they never spoke again. Their once friendship turned into a very hostile relationship and Alec didn’t even try hiding how much he disliked the guy. As did the other. It was clear to all people around them that they couldn’t stand each other and Alec huffed under his breath. Victor would always start with disgusting remarks if they would bump into each other outside the building or inside. It was a pain in the ass, but Alec managed to suffer through it. 

“Oh, look, it’s Lightwood,” said Aldertree and Alec gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the other, but he knew that he was going to lose his cool sooner than later. He wished that he would be able to control his anger around the other, but it was…  _ Victor made it impossible.  _ “And you’ve brought a friend this time around,” he said and looked at Magnus, not quite getting it yet that he was an android. “Let me warn you, my man, he is into some weird shit,” said Victor and Magnus was also annoyed.

“Excuse me?”

“Take my word for it,” said Adeltree. “He fixes robots and shit, very messed up, man. His old man is the same. The whole family creeps me the fuck out,” said Victor and Magnus already felt the corners of his lips twitching.  _ Ah, so he was one of them.  _ “It’s messed up and wrong,” said Victor and Magnus rolled his eyes. Nothing that he didn’t hear so far and honestly it didn’t phase him one bit. But Alec was fuming with anger because Magnus was right there and he couldn’t-

“Shut the fuck up, Victor,” said Alec. 

“It’s a free country - I have the right to exercise my right to the freedom of speech,” said Victor. Alec rolled his eyes; Victor always used that to back up his racist claims and honestly Alec wanted to ignore him like he usually did. Magnus was there - they spent a whole day together. It was a fun day and he didn’t want an idiot like that to ruin it. So, Alec turned his back to the other because he knew that it would piss him off the most and decided to pay attention to Magnus, who was looking kind of worried. He didn’t feel safe there anymore and he wanted to leave. 

“Are you okay?” whispered Alec because he could see the worried expression on Magnus’ face and the other nodded, but reached over to him with his hand and gently pulled him closer.

“Maybe I can make some time to come up to your place after all,” said Magnus and looked past Alec. Magnus didn’t have to explain himself any further than that and he gave Magnus a little nod. He looked down and saw that Magnus’ hand was shivering a little bit. Maybe it was for the best if the two of them left. Magnus was trembling, but it wasn’t from fear at all. Yes, the guy creeped him out, but he was more pissed off. An idiot like that wasn’t going to scare him away.  _ He did want to punch him though for being such a piece of trash though.  _

“Dude, didn’t you hear what I just said?” asked Victor and tried to get closer, but Magnus had it enough. He quickly turned around to face the idiot and Aldertree’s eyes widened because just for a split second Magnus’ eyes were bright gold. At first he thought that his vision was playing tricks with him, but then… it would make sense, if he wasn’t human. He quickly made a step back and gulped. Magnus’ eyes darkened and Alec tensed up behind Magnus. Magnus shouldn’t have gotten his hands dirty, Alec would be more than happy to kick his ass.

“I suggest you leave me the fuck alone, scum,” said Magnus, his voice low and if the situation would be any different, Alec would be drooling. Seeing Magnus stand up for himself was the hottest thing ever. Victor didn’t say anything else, but Alec could tell that the other was pissed off and was barely holding himself. “Now then,” said Magnus and turned back to Alec. “How about we go in?” asked Magnus and his smile was back on his face, facial expression softened up and Alec nodded.

“Yeah, let’s leave this idiot alone, it’s not worth it, though I wanna kick his ass very much,” said Alec as he continued glaring at Victor. He was humiliated by both of them even if it was in a subtle way. “I bet Church will be so happy to see you,” said Alec and Magnus grinned and nodded.

“Aw, I should have brought him something.”

“He’s way too spoiled already, Magnus, no need to spoil him more,” said Alec and Magnus laughed softly. 

Victor continued standing there for a little while, his face dark with anger and he gritted his teeth.  _ He couldn’t believe he let those two speak to him like that.  _


	7. Chapter 7

“Dad, I would appreciate it if you stopped looking at Magnus like that,” commented Alec as he was trying to get his father to snap out of it, but the older man couldn’t really stop himself. Alec decided that maybe it was cool if Magnus dropped by his father’s workshop for the afternoon, but he was now beginning to fear that he might have made a mistake. Alec wasn’t the one that told Robert about Magnus being an android. Magnus was the one that came out and said it - he kind of blurted it out because he felt safe around the Lightwoods. Alec was amazing, so his family was probably the same, but now that he finally said it out loud he was beginning to question if it was truly a good idea. 

Robert’s eyes were literally shining when he told him which model he was and he tried not to laugh too much because he could feel that Alec felt terrible about the turn of the events. In a way it was kind of funny - for Magnus - but Alec was trying all that he could to stop his father from  _ fanboying  _ over the other. Just like Alec, Robert was also a dork, but Magnus was beginning to understand that his level of dork was on a completely another scale and he was laughing softly, shaking his head and he looked over to Alec, trying to let him know that it was okay. 

“Alec, I don’t mind it, really,” said Magnus and snorted. Alec rolled his eyes and then walked over to his father. He knew that Magnus was only trying to be polite, but unlike Magnus, he had nothing to lose and he stepped in front of Robert and shook his head. 

“Don’t encourage this,” said Alec and Magnus was silently laughing in the back. “Dad, no, we’ve talked about this,” said Alec and Robert slowly looked up and then cleared his throat. Well, yes, but at the same time - Magnus was one of the earliest models. Almost a century old, he had never seen one in person and he was excited. But he knew that he probably came off as a creep, so he was slowly backtracking. Still, why wouldn’t Alec tell him about this? Ah, perhaps because he knew what kind of a reaction he was going to get and Robert cleared his throat and nodded as he looked past his son over to Magnus.

“My apologies,” said Robert and Magnus waved it off. It was kind of hard to believe that such a young looking man could be almost a century old. It was truly amazing and he rubbed his palms together. “You should have told me, Alec, that he’s the HA-A02.  _ The _ model that was-” started Robert again and Alec quicky stopped him and shook his head. Magnus laughed - well, it was  _ good _ that someone was actually excited learning about his origins. It didn’t happen in a very long time.

“Wait till he learns about my dad,” said Magnus and Alec shook his head.

“Magnus, no.”

“Your dad?” asked Robert and his eyes were again shining. Alec gritted his teeth and he shook his head. Nope, he wasn’t going to let this happen again. Alec didn’t want Magnus to be sent running through the door and he then looked at his dad. “Is he also-”

“Dad, didn’t you promise you’d stop? C’mon, just chill,” said Alec and Robert looked at him and gave his son an offended look and he crossed his arms on top of his sides and he clicked with his tongue. Ugh, now what? “Magnus is a very good friend, please don’t embarrass me,” whined Alec and Magnus smiled. Ah, those two were adorable. In a way they reminded him of himself and Asmodeus. They were also bickering just like them and his smile was growing. 

“Alexander Gideon Lightwood,” said Robert and Alec’s cheeks reddened. Magnus, on the other hand, glanced towards Alec, who was now looking down and his smile was again wider.  _ Ah, so his full name was Alexander.  _ He kind of had an idea that it was probably that; what else could Alec be short for? But now that he actually knew for sure, he was very amused. He liked it, it fit Alec amazing and he wondered why he didn't use his full name on a daily basis. It was indeed a mouthful, but he liked the sound of it. Alexander. Mm-hmm. As Magnus was busy with thinking how amazingly Alec’s name would roll off his tongue, the other two were still bickering. 

In the end, Magnus stepped closer and the two finally stopped. “Well,” said Magnus and then smiled. “That’s quite the workshop you have here, Mr Lightwood,” said Magnus because Robert showed him around before and Robert was proudly smiling. He was very proud of his workshop and he hoped that one day Alec would join him there. Jace was interested, but he wasn’t very good. He had the tendency to break things instead of fixing them - it was kind of funny, but also very bad for the family business. 

“Thank you, Magnus,” said Robert happily and then rubbed his palms together. “This makes me so happy to hear especially because you’ve been around for a while now and you’ve probably seen some pretty impressive things,” said Robert and Magnus smiled and nodded. “I wish Alec would join me in here one day,” said Robert sadly as he glanced towards his son and Alec grinned. He knew that he would say that again, he was always repeating it over and over again.

“Dad, I told you-”

“I know, you don’t want to make a living out of it because then it’ll take the fun out of it, I know,” said Robert and sounded like a wounded little puppy. Magnus snorted. “His brother, Jace, is very keen on joining me in here,” said Robert and Alec started laughing. Magnus arched a brow - what was funny about that, again? 

“I told you that Jace is always asking me if he can join you,” said Alec.

“Yeah,” said Robert in a grim way. “We’ve tried working together for about a month, but he broke more things than actually fix, so we decided that it was for the best if he tried himself out if he was any good at something else,” said Robert and Alec laughed again, Magnus cracking a little smile as well because that made a sense. “Anyway,” said Robert and then looked around over to Magnus, who straightened himself up and smiled slightly. “It’s very nice to meet you, Magnus. Alec was talking about you nonstop so it’s really nice that he finally decided to introduce us.”

Magnus hummed along and moved closer. Alec wanted to slap himself across the forehead.  _ He knew that this was about to happen _ . Magnus, on the other hand, was in high spirits when he heard that. “Has he been now?” asked Magnus and then waggled his eyebrows. “What kind of things has he been telling you about me?” asked Magnus and Alec was shaking his head when Robert looked over to him and he just snorted.

“Always, he never fails to mention you,” said Robert and Alec whined.

“Dad, we’ve-”

“Only nice things,” said Robert in the end and ignored Alec for the time being and he hummed along. “It seems that you’re a very dear friend to him because he seems a lot happier since the two of you have met,” said Robert and he rubbed the back of his neck. “He still wouldn’t tell me how the two of you have met, but it doesn’t really matter. All that matters is that destiny brought the two of you together,” he said and then winked. It was easy for Robert to see how Alec really felt about Magnus and he hoped that maybe it could work out to be more than just a friendship between the two of them.

Magnus smiled softly and Alec cleared his throat. He didn’t anticipate that his father would go so deep into it, but at least it wasn’t embarrassing and he nodded. Magnus chewed on his lip and he felt his body heating up. Being around Lightwoods was truly something special, he was- “He saved me,” said Magnus softly and bit down onto his lip and shook his head. “In more than only one way,” he said and eyed Alec, whose cheeks were getting redder and redder.  _ He did fix him up, but he saved him in more than one way?  _

Alec was happy to hear that. He was happy to know that he managed to help Magnus in more than one way, his heart feeling warm and he chewed on his lip. Maybe he was feeling a little bit shy, but it was definitely in a good way. Magnus gave him a little wink and Robert ruffled Alec’s hair and was glowing with pride. He had raised such a good son. It wasn’t just him though and he grinned. “That does sound like Alec,” said Robert in the end and Alec arched a brow.

“Does it?”

“Yes,” said Robert and then nodded. “You have that effect on people - help them out when they most need it,” said Robert and chuckled. “But he claims that he isn’t a people person. Perhaps not, but when he lets someone into his heart, there’s nothing that he wouldn’t do for them,” said Robert and Alec’s cheeks were again red. “Which isn’t always a good thing,” he said because he knew that Alec had gotten hurt in the past because of it. “There are some evil people out there, but I’m still amazed how he always keeps his heart open,” said Robert and Magnus nodded.

“Alexander has such a big heart,” said Magnus and Alec’s heart made a jump.  _ Magnus has just called him by his full name.  _ He usually didn’t like it, but now that Magnus said it, he was actually… of a different opinion. He loved the way that Magnus said his name, it came out perfectly and he cleared his throat.

“Oh, he allows you to call him by his full name?” asked Robert and chuckled. “You truly must be special to him,” said Robert and Magnus quickly looked over to Alec.  _ Crap, he didn’t like it when people called him Alexander?  _ Magnus was about to apologise but when Alec saw that he quickly stopped him by nodding.

“Magnus is special,” said Alec and then ducked his head down from embarrassment. “He’s the only person allowed to call me like that,” said Alec and Robert was again laughing. Ah, those two were so head over heels for each other and he hoped that they realised each other’s feelings by then already.

* * *

“It’s so lovely that you decided to join us for dinner,” said Maryse happily and Alec was glaring at Robert, who was just happily smiling and sitting over at the side. 

“Not like he was given much choice,” grumbled Alec as he was looking over at Robert. Magnus laughed and then waved it off. He didn’t mind it at all, he was honoured, actually. “Magnus, I’m so sorry that it turned out like this, I apologise again in the name of my father who doesn’t know where boundaries are,” said Alec and glared at his old man again, who was laughing and didn’t seem too bothered.

Alec kind of had a point. As he and Alec were getting ready to leave the workshop, Robert kind of started the whole discussion of  _ how amazing it would be if you stayed over for dinner one day.  _ Which soon lead to  _ hey, how about you come over today.  _ And Magnus couldn’t really decline because it would be very rude. And also how could he decline a dinner; he was always the social butterfly at such events. Alec could see that his dad backed Magnus into the corner with his questions and because Magnus was nice it was hard for him to say no.  _ But at the same time he was super happy that they were there.  _ Spending time with Magnus was always a plus and he was happy that he was keen on meeting his family. Well, he was hoping that he was.

Was it too early to be meeting the parents though? Ah, Alec didn’t know and he was again getting worried. But Magnus looked quite content with himself so he was probably  _ fine _ that he was there after all. “Like I said, I’m more than happy to be here,” said Magnus and Robert grinned all the way up to his ears. “How can I possibly turn away a free meal and to finally meet your parents, Alexander?” asked Magnus and Maryse looked over to Alec, who didn’t flinch when Magnus said his name. He didn’t even look bothered and she chuckled under her breath.

_ Ah, so it was like that, was it? _

“W-well, that’s true,” said Alec softly and Magnus smiled. Now that he said Alec’s full name once it was like he couldn’t stop and Alec wasn’t complaining at all. “I’m happy that you’re here,” said Alec and glanced over to Magnus’ hand that was resting on top of his leg and bit his lip. He wanted to hold his hand so much, but instead he clasped his hands together and then rubbed his palms together. “Mom, do you need help?” asked Alec, more than happy to give his mom a hand and she quickly shook her head.

“That’s quite fine, honey, you don’t have-”

“She’s just afraid that you’ll burn everything down,” said a voice from the door and Alec quickly turned to the door and his face darkened. Why was Max, his youngest brother, like this? Alec whined and then he rolled his eyes, Magnus laughing along when he saw the boy walking over to the kitchen and he stopped at Magnus, looking up and down him, narrowing his eyes. “Who are you?” he asked. Ah, so the whole Lightwood family was very blunt, weren’t they.

“Max, manners!” whined Alec.

“I’m Magnus,” said the other, smiling happily. 

“Are you Alec’s new boyfriend?” he asked and Alec was again lost for words.

“Max,” hissed Alec and then started massaging his temples. Magnsu was a bit taken back with such a sudden question and he glanced towards Alec, who quickly looked away. Alec never really said anything about Magnus being his boyfriend and he hoped that Magnus was going to understand that this was all Max’s own vivid imagination. The only ones that he really told about his feelings for Magnus were Jace and Izzy, but even they didn’t know that Magnus kind of felt the same about him. He didn’t feel like it should be discussed with other people at that point. It was more of a private thing that should be kept between him and Magnsu for the time being. Maybe if things were going to get better, than later-

“Maxie,” said Maryse and then looked around to her son. “Don’t bombard the nice young man with such questions,” she said and Max glanced down a little bit. “He’s Alec’s friend, right?” she asked and Magnus slowly nodded. “That’s all that matters. No need to worry, sweetie,” she then said as she was talking to Magnus now. “Our youngest has the tendency to ask very detailed and interesting questions. Don’t hold it against him, he didn’t mean anything bad by it, did you, Max?”

“No,” mumbled Max. “I was just curious.”

“I know,” said Magnus happily and then smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, young man,” said Magnus and Max cheered up rather fast after that. 

“You better be nice friend to Alec,” said Max again and Magnus arched his brow. Alec laughed softly and shook his head. Max was really protective when it came down to it, but then again, he saw his older brother get heartbroken more than one time, so in a way it made sense. Magnus blinked a few times because that honestly surprised him. He didn’t expect a child Max’s age to get so serious, but slowly he nodded and smiled again. He was beginning to realise just how close the Lightwoods were. 

“But of course,” said Magnus in the end and Alec slowly relaxed a little bit. “I will never hurt him, you have that promise,” he said and Max was studying him up and down, scanning his face, trying to see if the man was serious about his promise and in the end he nodded and crossed his arms on top of his chest. Alec whined and hoped that Max was soon going to drop this act. He was a sweet kid if he wasn’t-

“You promise you won’t break your promise?”

And that was where Max’s young age finally showed. Magnus nodded and smiled. “Promises are something that should never be broken. You have my word, young man,” said Magnus in the end. “Your brother is a very dear friend to me, I feel very lucky,” said Magnus and waggled his eyebrows. 

“Alec, I like him,” said Max and Alec chuckled. “You should make him your boyfriend.”

Alec’s jaw dropped, while Magnus just laughed and shook his head. “Max, come help me set the table,” said Robert finally and Alec mouthed a very clear  _ thank you _ . While the table was being set, Alec dragged Magnus out of the kitchen because he needed to talk to him in private. He needed to apologise for everything that went down up until then. Magnus was laughing as he was being dragged out of the kitchen and his smile was bright when the two of them were in the hallway and he cocked his head to the side.

“What’s up?”

“Magnus, I’m so sorry for everything that happened today. First my dad dragged you to the dinner and now my brother,” said Alec and shook his head. “Max never before he speaks.”

“Well, he’s a kid, it’s normal. They usually don’t have a filter,” said Magnus and Alec nodded. “I think he’s adorable,” said Magnus and chuckled. “I’m very happy that I decided to take up your father on the invitation,” he said. “And honestly the fact that your little brother thinks I’m worthy of being called your boyfriend is a compliment,” was all that Magnus said and Alec’s cheeks reddened and he cleared his throat. 

_ Since that day they didn’t really- _

“S-so we’re good, right? I mean all is fine, correct?”

“Of course,” said Magnus and tilted his head to the side in the most adorable way possible. “Now let’s go get some food, hm? Smells yummy in there,” said Magnus and Alec nodded.

So all worked out for the best after all!


	8. Chapter 8

Magnus had gotten a call from Alec was he was needed over at his place. Apparently Alec has found another robot that needed some fix upping, but he couldn’t tackle this on his own. Usually Alec would take such a robot over to his father’s workshop, but he decided to call Magnus over to his place for this. Magnus was still giving him the… lessons so to speak. But Magnus didn’t really mind it, in fact, he was beyond happy when Alexander called him and he didn’t need to be told twice to come over to Alec’s. Not only that, but he used his super speed so he was over literally in a few minutes. Magnus wasn’t one that liked using his powers, like people called it, but when he would get too excited he just couldn’t help it and there he was, feeling giddy inside and just as he was about to step inside of the apartment building he saw some someone coming from around the corner and Magnus felt his stomach dropping when he saw that it was the idiot from the other day.

Victor, was it? Magnus didn’t really remember names of the people that he didn’t like and the other was the type of the person that he disliked the most, biting into his lip and he placed his hands together behind his back. Maybe it was for the best if he just quickly ran inside of the building, but it was too late as the other idiot managed to see him and Magnus was stopped in his tracks when the other called out to him. Magnus gritted his teeth - he had been lucky so far. He knew somewhere in the back of his head that he needed to watch out and not run into that idiot, but he has been lucky so far. Not this time, though, and Magnus only rolled his eyes and not to ignore him.

“What are you doing here?!” hollered Victor out and Magnus rolled his eyes. He really wasn’t in the mood nor was the other worthy of his attention and time. Still, he didn’t just walk away. Instead, he stood there and felt his body tensing up. “It really is you, right? From the other day,” said Aldertree when he was close enough and wrinkled his nose, shuddering. “You know it’s bad enough that Lightwood keeps bringing freaks over, there is no need for them to keep coming here on their own,” said Victor and Magnus felt anger spreading through his body. 

Magnus didn’t really care what the idiot said about him, but he was getting pissed off that he spoke about Alec like that.  _ Bringing freaks over?  _ Alec was helping out, he was fixing robots that were damaged by idiots like the other one. There was no doubt in Magnus' mind that the other wouldn’t actually hurt one. Because he had that look in his eyes, the look that made Magnus feel uneasy and he shuddered. Still, this was about Alec. What disgusting claims he was making about his friend when he had no idea just how amazing Alec was. Magnus managed to cool off a little bit as he took in a deep breath and he slowly turned around to face Victor, who was now much closer. Too close for Magnus’ liking anyway.

“What is it to you if I’m here or not?” asked Magnus and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms on top of his chest. “You don’t have to like me, leave me alone, but leave Alec out of this,” grumbled Magnus and his voice dropped an octave lower. “It’s none of your business if I’m here, just move on and stop snooping on other people’s lives,” said Magnus and laughed bitterly. “Or is your own life so miserable and boring that you have to make other people miserable with you as well?” he asked and somehow seemed to have struck a nerve with Aldertree. Perhaps he was taking things too far, but he didn’t like it when he spoke about Alec like this. It was disgusting and Magnus was protective of his friend.

“I happen to live in this area and I don’t like your kind polluting the air around here,” said Victor and Magnus almost laughed.  _ Well, that was a new one, he had never heard that.  _ He was going to give Victor and point for creativity. Though his reason was stupider than other people’s reasons and he clicked with his tongue. “It’s bad enough you’re everywhere practically, I don’t want to see one of you when I’m coming home,” spat out Victor and Magnus snorted. He shouldn’t have, but he did and that made the other’s anger even worsen.

“Then just turn to the other side? I seriously have no idea what the fuck is your problem,” said Magnus and rolled his eyes. “I’m here visiting a friend. I don’t understand why you need to be so pissed off by that?” he asked and then rolled his eyes. “Jealous that Alec is my friend?” he asked and Victor scoffed.

“Friend,” spat Victor and Magnus blinked a few times. Why was he laughing at him now? “You’re really fucked up in the head if you really think that Lightwood is really your friend,” said Aldertree and Magnus didn’t like how uneasy that made him feel. He knew that he was saying all of that to hurt him, but he still didn’t like it. Aldertree could see that he had gotten to Magnus and he smiled. “I mean sure  _ Alec _ sees you as a friend, but pity it’s not real friendship,” he said and Magnus made a step back.

“Of course it is,” said Magnus and then tried to sound collected, but he didn’t. His heart was hammering hard against his ribcage and he chewed on his lower lip. He kind of felt where this was going and it reminded him of- “I bet you’re just jealous because you have  _ no _ friends,” said Magnus and Victor didn’t seem too offended by that.

“I do have friends,  _ real _ one,” said Victor and laughed again. “I guess in a way I feel bad for Lightwood,” he said and shook his head. “He must be really desperate if he finds things like you, a  _ friend, _ ” he said and Magnus was again getting angry.”When all you truly are is a robot,” he said. “Bunch of a metal that is covered up to look human. Emotions written by a bunch of codes, saved up on your hard drive to tell you how you should feel and act,” said Victor and then shook his head. “That’s not  _ real _ , it’s fake. There’s nothing real about your friendship and he’ll realise that sooner or later.”

Magnus swallowed thickly. And there it was, his biggest insecurity revealed just like that and he didn’t like it. He hated it. Magnus pressed his lips together and he was looking down, pissed off and vulnerable. He was angry at himself that he allowed Victor of all people bring him down like that. He ought to show him that he wasn’t right, but he couldn’t. Because deep down he was also…  _ it wasn’t the first time that he was told that.  _ And he knew Alec would never, it was his own insecurity that he hated. It didn’t allow him to be ever truly happy and he gasped, stepping back, going towards the door. He wanted to be with Alec.

_ “I love you.” _

_ “You keep saying that, but do you really mean it? Or is that what you’ve been programmed to say? You don’t really know what ‘love’ is, do you?” _

Magnus shook his head because he didn’t want to think of that moment now. And he was running, running inside of the building, up the stairs because he didn’t want to be alone. Not then. He knew what he felt, he knew how he felt for Alec. His feelings were  _ real.  _ They weren’t just… a bunch of codes, though in reality, Magnus  _ knew.  _ He wasn’t a fool, he knew how he was produced. To feel. To talk. To act. He knew, but still it  _ hurt _ . Because his own feelings could be so easily dismissed. 

As Magnus was running up the stairs, he tried not to think too much about what Aldertree has just told him. He just said it because he wanted to hurt him. Also, he was an idiot, so there was that. Alec had a good reason to dislike him and Magnus swallowed thickly, breathing fast and uneven when he finally reached Alec’s floor. Not because he was tired of running, but because he was stressed. He didn’t like feeling like that and he knew that once he would be inside with Alec that he would manage to forget all of his worries. Because what he and Alec had was  _ real.  _ It wasn’t just a bunch of codes on his programme. It was more. It was real, it-

In his panic mode, Magnus knocked on Alec’s door not too gently and he stepped back a little bit. He could hear Alec’s footsteps quickly coming over to the door, Magnus trying to control himself because he knew that as soon as Alec would open the door he would- The door opened and Alec’s eyes widened when he saw Magnus standing there. He was expecting Magnus to come, but he didn’t expect the knocking to be from him. He kind of thought that it was one of the neighbors, again coming to complain about Church. Church was a troublemaker, he would sneak out of the apartment and sometimes cause trouble at some of the neighbours.  _ It was all of the neighbours that Alec didn’t like.  _ It was like his cat knew and Alec was always amused. Still, he didn’t expect there to see Magnus and he could see that the other looked worried and… why was he breathing so fast?

“Magnus? What happened?” asked Alec and Magnus didn’t reply yet. He stepped inside of the apartment in silence, Alec closing the door behind Magnus and he rubbed the back of his neck. Magnus looked worried and he didn’t like it. Before he could really ask something, Magnus’ body moved on it’s own and Alec’s eyes widened again wehn Magnus suddenly gave him a hug. He wrapped his arms around his waist and hugged Alec. Hard and tight. 

Alec did say that he could always come for a hug if he needed one and he…. oh, he needed one now badly. Alec quickly returned the hug, wrapped his arms around Magnus’ neck and he brought him even closer. Magnus was shaking in his arms and he bit his lip; did something happen on his way here? Because before on the phone Magnus sounded fine. Alec usually was able to tell when something was off, so he didn’t sense anything off then. Something had to happen on his way there and Magnus took in a deep breath, letting his eyes slowly close.

Alec was there, he felt better. And it was real. What they had was real, it wasn’t because he was programmed to feel things. No. Alec- “This is real,” whispered Magnus and Alec’s eyes widened again. “This is real. Real,” kept Magnus chanting and Alec was glad that Magnus was slowly calming down in his arms, but he was still curious to what had happened to Magnus. Because he was-

“Of course it is,” said Alec and Magnus gasped again. “W-what happened, Magnus? Who-”

“Doesn’t matter,” said Magnus and Alec didn’t like the sound of that, but he also couldn’t force Magnus into telling him what was bothering him. It wouldn’t be right. Magnus had every right to his privacy. “All that matters is that you’re here,” muttered Magnus and held Alec tighter. Alec felt his heart squeezing, but he gave him a little nod and buried his face into Magnus’ shoulder.

* * *

“Like this? Are you sure?” asked Alec and Magnus gave him a little nod.

“Yes, just like so,” said Magnus and Alec rubbed the back of his neck. “You have to connect these two together and then I’ll plug it into the computer. A little update of the system and the little one should be back to normal,” said Magnus and glanced towards the robot that Alec was fixing up. A kitten, this time and he smiled. Just like him, Alexander was also a cat person and he huffed under his breath, turning over at the side where he saw Church sitting and he didn’t like it too much that the other two were giving all of the attention to the white kitten.

“Okay,” said Alec and then looked at Magnus again. He seemed to be back to normal, which he was happy about. And Magnus did feel better, he managed to almost forget about running into Victor. Alec sighed and then looked over to the door where Church was sitting and glaring. Yes, he was a cat, but he was  _ glaring.  _ He didn’t look too happy and Alec snorted. “What’s with you, grumpy pants?” asked Alec and Church meowed loudly. 

“I think he’s jealous, Alexander,” said Magnus and Alec snorted.

“You think so?” asked Alec and cheered up. Finally some sort of proof that Church actually liked him. Then again maybe he was jealous that Magnus was with the cat. Alec laughed and then shook his head. Yet, when he petted the kitten’s head, Church’s tail fluffed up and he let out a hiss. “He is so jealous,” said Alec and waggled his eyebrows. 

“Don’t tease him,” said Magnus and Alec waved it off, connecting the wires together and then leaned over to Magnus’ side to see what he was doing after he plugged in the wires into the computer on his end and he hummed. Oh, there was something going on and it was a good sign, watching Magnus typing in a few codes and he then smiled because the system started updating and Alec beamed. 

“Finally, you’re gonna be all back to normal,” said Alec and shook his head. “Still can’t believe someone would just toss you aside,” he said and Magnus huffed under his breath.

“The world is full of assholes,” said Magnus. “I wish everyone was as open minded and kind hearted like you,” he said and Alec’s cheeks heated up. “The world would be off to a better place,” he said and Alec nodded.

“I know,” said Alec. Silence of uneasiness fell between the two of them, but the computer notified that the update was complete and Alec quickly cheered up. “It’s done, it’s done,” he said and hurried over to the other side of the table and Magnus slowly unplugged the kitten and then went over to Alec’s side. “Damn, I kind of feel nervous. I hope the kitten is going to be fine,” said Alec and Magnus gave him a little wink.

“What is that, little grasshopper? Do you not trust the master?”

“You dork,” said Alec and then snorted, slowly reaching behind the kitten’s ears and turned it on. It took a while, but it eventually turned on and Alec looked at Magnus, who was smiling and observing the kitten slowly open its eyes. Pretty blue ones it had and his heart melted. It was the most adorable kitten that he had ever seen and he nudged Alec gently. Alec gave him a little nod and then both of them decided to approach the kitten. Carefully and slowly. 

Alec slowly reached forward with his hand towards the kitten and as soon as he did that, the kitten cuddled up to his warm palm and started purring loudly. That one simple thing touched Alec so much that he almost started to cry - how could someone throw away such a precious kitten? People were heartless. “I think he likes you,” said Magnus and then grinned when the cat looked at him and let out a loud happy meow and hopped over to Magnus, curiously looking up and Magnus leaned closer.

“Quite an affectionate little thing, aren’t you?” asked Magnus as he started petting the kitten’s head and he grinned. “Adorable,” he said and the cat was happily meowing. The more the two of them showed the kitten attention, the more jealous Church was growing and he ended up hopping on the table and he tried pushing the white kitten off of the table and he hissed. His tail was fluffed up, his ears drooped down, hunching and he was ready to strike. 

Alec wanted to pick up Church and carry him to the other room because he didn’t want him to hurt the kitten, but that didn’t have to be done. Church was about to jump and scare the kitten, but the other one happily meowed as if it was trying to introduce itself to Church and Magnus smiled. “Wait a second, maybe they can be even friends,” said Magnus and Alec pouted. Ah, if they ended up being friends… would be nice, but Alec really couldn’t keep another cat over at his place and he bit his lip.

“Magnus-”

“They’re precious,” said Magnus, hearts in his eyes and he smiled softly. Church tried to remain grumpy, but as the kitten continued jumping around him, he was slowly letting go off the anger and just sat up and was observing the other cat. Church was a cool and chill cat - he didn’t show often that he liked someone. So he just plopped down onto the table and closed his eyes, but that let Alec know that he didn’t mind the kitten anymore.  _ That was fast.  _ The kitten soon stepped on top of him and then laid down next to him, meowing happily. Church meowed back and Alec smiled.

“I mean they do seem to be getting along,” said Alec and Magnus gave him a little nod.

“Indeed,” said Magnus and looked over to the clock. It was getting late, he should probably be going home, huh? Yet, somehow going back didn’t sound too appealing. While he realised that it was late, he still… the meeting with Victor again crossed his mind, which made him remember other things and he chewed on his lower lip and cleared his throat. “We’ve been at it for quite a while, huh?”

“Hmm? Oh, you’re right,” said Alec when he looked up at the clock. “Times passed fast.”

“I should get going, perhaps,” said Magnus, but didn’t stand up. He was again nervous and he shuddered. Being alone without Alec was actually scaring him and he then decided that it was okay for him to be selfish for once and- “This will sound like an odd request, but do you think I could stay over?” asked Magnus and Alec’s eyes widened. “I, um, I kind of don’t want to be alone. If that’s okay with you and if I’m not asking too much. If-”

“No, not at all. Please, stay, I would love to spend more time with you,” said Alec, feeling giddy as heck. Magnus was really worried when he came to his place, so he was happy that he decided to stay. Alec would keep his eyes on the other like so and he chewed on his lip. “It’ll be fun,” said Alec and waggled his eyebrows, deciding to keep it lighthearted and Magnus chuckled and then hummed along. 

“Awesome.”

“I’ll cook us something and-”

“Hmm. Cook?”

“I’ll order us something,” said Alec and Magnus started laughing, nodding along and he relaxed a little bit. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to keep running from this forever, but if he could postpone it a little bit… then so be it. Besides, it was going to be so much fun being with Alec!


	9. Chapter 9

“I wish I could keep the kitten, Magnus,” said Alec and shook his head. Magnus was sitting on the floor next to Alec and was currently petting the kitten’s head. Alec would have loved to keep the kitten, but he couldn’t. The neighbours were already complaining as it was and he didn’t want their bitching to get even worse. Magnus looked down and then he sighed, biting into his lip. Well, Magnus has also gotten quite attached to the little one and in a way it was their  _ baby.  _ Maybe a little bit of a stretch, but they did fix him up together and they already named him - Chairman Meow. He was small, but he had a big personality and he loved ordering things around the apartment. Church was quite fond of him too and Magnus rubbed the back of his neck and then smiled when he looked at Alec. 

“Well, to tell you the truth, I’ve always wanted to own a kitten,” said Magnus and Alec’s smile widened all the way up to his ears and he blinked a few times.  _ Seriously?  _ Oh, he was willing to take him? Alec’s heart melted. Magnus was really amazing. “Maybe I could take him with me and he could stay over at my place,” said Magnus and Alec nodded. “And we would both come and visit you and Church,” said Magnus and looked at Church, who was laying in his basket, but had everything under control, he was carefully scoping his surroundings and Alec smiled.

“That would be amazing,” said Alec and Magnus gave him a little wink. “I mean he and Church are already best friends, so it would be a crime if we separated them just like that,” said Alec and Magnus was quick to nod in agreement. “Then it’s settled?” asked Alec just to be sure and Magnus nodded, lifted the kitten above his head and started giggling when the Chairman started licking the tip of his nose. Unlike Church, Chairman was very affectionate and Magnus was giggling.

Magnus was already adorable as it was. Magnus plus cats was a cuteness overload that Alec’s heart couldn’t really handle well and he cleared his throat and then chewed on his lower lip. Alec took a deep breath in and he rubbed his palms together and then nodded. “We will have such an amazing time together, won’t we?” cooed Magnus and then puckered his lips when Chairman placed his paw on top of his lips and gave him a little kiss. Alec was again struggling to keep himself collected.

“Adorable,” slipped past Alec’s lips and Magnus looked at him.

“He’s really precious, isn’t he?” asked Magnus and Alec cleared his throat. He couldn’t really keep his words from slipping out - he wasn’t thinking what he was saying.

“You two both are,” said Alec and Magnus’ cheeks reddened and he quickly glanced away. Alec’s smile widened a little bit and he chewed on his lip. He didn’t really feel too embarrassed, he felt proud that he made Magnus Bane of all people flush. However, when the silence fell between the two of them, he started to worry if he said a little bit too much and he was trying to backtrack a little bit, but-

“You really know your way with words, Alexander,” commented Magnus and tried not to smile too much. He was kind of trying to keep his emotions under control. Magnus decided that it was probably for the best if the two of them remained friends. He knew that it was unfair to both of them, but he didn’t know… thinking back how things ended up - he didn’t know anymore. It felt like finally making some improvement and personal growth but now he was slipping back and he didn’t like it. Ugh. 

“Oh, yes, I’m a romantic soul,” said Alec and waggled his eyebrows. Magnus chuckled and then he leaned back against the wall and he hummed along. Alec’s heart started beating a little bit faster and he thought about it the second time. Would it be a wrong time to ask Magnus if he gave it a little bit more thought? He didn’t know if he would be pushing things too far, but it’s been weeks since he and Magnus had that talk - that Magnus fancied him and he hoped that it didn’t stop. But it was fine because feelings could easily change and he huffed under his breath and Magnus opened his eyes and saw that Alec’s eyes were on him and he glanced away.

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Um, yes, sure,” said Magnus and already felt what Alec’s question was going to be about and he didn’t like how uneasy it made him feel, but then again he knew that he shouldn’t run away from it because Alec deserved to know the truth. Maybe not the whole truth quite yet, but Magnus was trying to open up properly to Alec. Sometimes it felt like making one step forward and then two back. Not moving anywhere. it was frustrating. 

“Do you know how I told you about, um, how I feel about you?” asked Alec and Magnus huffed under his breath and he chewed on his lip. Magnus was still taken back how easy it was for Alec to talk about such things. And he was a very honest person - he could see that the whole Lightwood family was that. Magnus wished he could be more like him and yet that honesty also scared him. Not in a bad way, though. “I know I said that I didn’t expect much, but then you told me that you fancied me more than a friend and I-I,’’ started Alec, but then his voice trailed off as he didn’t know how to word his sentence without coming off as pushy and needy.

“I remember,” muttered Magnus and didn’t know why Alec was asking him about that suddenly. Alec smiled and nodded, leaned a bit closer to Magnus and then he chewed on his lip.

“Um, I was just wondering,” said Alec and Magnus gave him a nod. “H-how you… um,” he started and Magnus’ smile was slowly growing because Alexander was adorable. Still he felt about the whole thing and he chewed on his lip. “If you still fancy me or-or if that has changed in any way?” asked Alec and Magnus felt like melting on the inside. That was all? There he was thinking that Alec was going to ask him if he was prepared to talk more in depth about their feelings. Or if he was going to ask him if he was ready to take their relationship to another status, but it was only that? Magnus slowly smiled and he couldn’t lie to Alec. He was trying not to focus on how much he liked the other, but Alec was making this hard on him. He couldn’t stop falling in love with him more and more and he just shook his head and smiled.

“N-no,” said Magnus and Alec’s eyes widened a little bit.  _ No, what?  _ “I still fancy you more than a friend,” said Magnus and Alec’s heart started beating happily and he tried to hide how happy that made him feel, but he couldn’t. He was literally buzzing with excitement and his good mood was making Magnus’ smile even wider. Ah, he was really too much for him. “You’re such a dork,” said Magnus and Alec stuck his tongue out.

“The hottest guy that I’ve ever met still likes me. How could I not be happy?” asked Alec and Magnus laughed softly.

“You’re adorable,” whispered Magnus and leaned closer to Alec. Alec did not expect what happened next - Magnus leaned over and pressed his lips against his cheek and Alec froze in place and he quickly looked over to the other side, where Magnus was now sitting back again and was trying to not look away. Magnus didn’t know what came over him, but when he saw how precious Alec was, he just had to kiss him. Even if it was only on the cheek. And from the looks of it, Alec loved the kiss as well. Alec swallowed thickly and he gently reached up with his hand, fingers skimming over the skin and he could still feel the feel of Magnus’ lips against his own cheek and Alec smiled.

“I like you so much,” said Alec and Magnus blinked a few times and then glanced down. He still couldn’t- Alec could see that Magnus had that troubled expression on his face and he quickly reached over to the other and placed his hand on top of Magnus’ hand and the other flinched. “Slow, remember? I don’t expect anything, relax. It’s okay, Magnus,” said Alec softly and Magnus almost teared up.  _ Alec was so kind.  _ To the point that it brought him to tears almost and he cleared his throat. 

“You deserve someone that will treat you right, Alexander,” whispered Magnus and Alec arched his brow. “I don’t even know if I will ever be ready to-”

“Magnus, we’ve talked about this, right?“ asked Alec and Magnus gave him a little nod. Yes, it was true that they talked about all of that, but he still felt bad. He wasn’t really leading Alexander on because he made sure that he told him that he wasn’t sure if this was ever going to lead to anything more than a friendship, but he still felt guilty. “I don’t really… I’m happy enough just being with you and I can’t think of anyone else that is better than you, so I guess we have a problem. You’re still with me,” said Alec and Magnus finally smiled again and shook his head.

“Yeah,” said Magnus. “I still get a bit overwhelmed at times.”

“It’s okay, I won’t hurt you,” stated Alec. As a promise and as a fact. Magnus believed him and he chewed on his lip. “But, you know, whatever happened to you in the past,” said Alec and Magnus stiffened up. “You can tell me about it. Whenever you’re ready,” he said and then made a pause. 

“I-I mean,” said Magnus and then made a long pause as well because he didn’t know if- “It’s a long time ago, I shouldn’t let it have such a big impact on me anymore,” said Magnus and then huffed under his breath and then glanced. “I’m sorry, it’s weird, I know,” said Magnus and Alec shook his head. “There was this one person that I loved… well, I think that I was in love with, but he, um, yeah… he wasn’t very good to me. At first it was all going well, but then I uncovered his real colours and it was horrible,” said Magnus and then huffed under his breath. “I thought it was over with it, but then he managed to make me remember,” said Magnus and Alec sniffened. Who was he?

Magnus wasn’t really talking about his father because even if his father made him remember Imasu, it wasn’t out of a bad place. He knew that his father was only trying to protect him and he didn’t hold it against him. Besides, Asmodeus didn’t say anything hurtful to him. But it was Aldertree the other day that made him think of his insecurities even more and he didn’t like it. He was an adult, moreover, he was a lot more intelligent than an idiot, but his words still managed to have such a big impact on him. Maybe it was the malfunction of his system. Magnus just knew that he didn’t like it and if he knew how to stop caring about  _ that _ for good then he would have found a solution a long time ago. 

“Magnus, who are you talking about?”

Magnus could tell that Alec wasn’t in a good mood anymore and he shook his head. “It’s not really important,” said Magnus in the end because he didn’t want any attention to Victor - he wasn’t worth their time at all. 

“It’s important,” said Alec firmly, but then decided that he should take things easy on Magnus. Again, he was probably pushing too much, but he tried to be as patient as he possibly could. He was so open with Magnus, he wished the other would find to trust him a bit better until now. Alec was nothing but honest and open with Magnus. But then again, Alec knew that Magnus had his history, he didn’t know what kind of things he was put through in the past and whatever it was, it couldn’t have been easy on him. Either way, Alec was just a little bit frustrated as he wanted to help Magnus out, but like this he didn’t know how to. “I mean if you wish to tell me,” he quickly said and Magnus shrugged.

“It’s fine.”

_ It wasn’t fine at all.  _ “Does it have to do something with the fact that you came in such a panicked state the other day? That you stayed over?” asked Alec and Magnus slowly nodded. Alec clicked with his tongue and he chewed on his lip, again reminding himself to stay calm and collected. “See, then it’s not fine,” said Alec and Magnus felt his mood sinking even more so. Weren’t they supposed to be having fun? He didn’t want to talk about- “I know I’m asking too much probably, but I just wish that you would open up to me a bit more,” said Alec and Magnus felt guilty again. “I know I’m being pushy, but I… want to help you. I can’t if you don’t trust me. I mean, I-”

“I do trust you, Alexander,” said Magnus quickly because he didn’t want Alec to think that he didn’t trust him because he did. He just didn’t want to burden him with his own worries. “I just don’t want our time to… I don’t know. It’s not that big of a deal. Besides, you have your own worries that you have to deal with. I don’t want you to be-”

“Magnus, we are friends,” stated Alec and Magnus nodded.

“I know.”

“See, then,” said Alec and then made a long pause again because he wanted to word himself properly. “I’m not… I’m not trying to say that you should tell me everything, but just a little bit,” he said and Magnus pressed his lips again together and Alec could tell that he was thinking hard about it. “You’ve been carrying this burden for such a long time all on your own and it can’t be easy. It’s time to let someone carry it with you. Who knows, maybe some of the burden can even be erased and you’ll feel a lot better,” said Alec and Magnus glanced down, placed his hands together in his lap and was thinking hard again.

“It’s just,” he said and then shook his head. Magnus didn’t know if his worries were even justified. If he said it out loud he was afraid that it would sound stupid. But… “Do you think that my feelings and emotions are real?” suddenly asked Magnus and Alec raised his head up and he cocked his head to the side. Alec didn’t know where all of that was coming from and at first he didn’t even understand what Magnus was talking about. “After all I’m only a robot, all what I think and feel is… determined by the way I’m programmed,” he said and Alec blinked a few times and he cleared his throat.

Alec had never thought about it that way. To him Magnus was a real person with real feelings, real emotions. He could clearly word himself properly how he felt, what he liked and disliked. He had his own personality that he came to love dearly. So he had never thought about Magnus in that way - that he was only metal and codes. Because he wasn’t, he was so much more. And it angered him to think that someone made Magnus worry about this. Alec couldn’t completely understand Magnus’ feelings at the moment, but he was going to be there for him and was going to remind him that he was more than just that. And whoever made him think of that, was going down.

Magnus glanced away and shook his head. “See, I told you it’s stupid,” said Magnus and then decided that it was time to stop talking about it because Alec wouldn’t undertsand. He was an amazing person, but he was human after all and there were some things that he wouldn’t be able to understand. He didn’t really hold it against him because he knew that it wasn’t Alec’s fault. He huffed under his breath and he shook his head.

“You’re so much more than that, Magnus,” said Alec suddenly and Magnus gave him a surprised look.

“Huh?”

“Codes, programs, whatever,” said Alec and shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. You’re still you, you’re a person. You… I’ve never thought of you any less than me or any other human that I’ve met,” he said and then shook his head. He didn’t know if his words would change anything about how Magnus saw himself, but he wished that they would. He wished that Magnus would see himself how he saw him - as an amazing and kind person. Who cared if he was or wasn’t human? “Who told you that? Tell me their name, I will go and beat them up right now,” said Alec and gritted his teeth. “I’ll make them eat their words and then I will-”

“Alexander, calm down,” said Magnus softly and Alec took a deep breath, but calming down was something that he wasn’t going to be able to do and he knew it. “It-it really isn’t… you shouldn’t… just, it’s really not worth it,” said Magnus and Alec chewed on his lip. He knew that violence didn’t solve anything, but when it came to Magnus he really couldn’t help himself. He took a deep beath in, closed his eyes and managed to calm down a little bit, shaking his head.

“It’s messed up whoever made you feel like your feelings aren’t true because they are,” said Alec and Magnus gave him a sad smile. “I’m not only saying this, I mean it. Anyone that thinks like this is just a hateful moron that you shouldn’t listen to at all,” said Alec in the end and Magnus nodded.

“True. I shouldn’t waste my time about that idiot Victor,” said Magnus. It kind of slipped out and Alec’s eyes darkened immediately. 

“Did you say Victor? The idiot that we met the other day?” asked Alec, his voice immediately dropping an octave lower and Magnus slowly nodded but he realised that he shouldn’t have said it. Probably. He didn’t want to cause any more strain to their already strained relationship. All in all, the idiot still lived around there and he didn’t want Alec to have to deal with that guy.

“Yeah him. But don’t do anything stupid or-”

“I’ll kick his sorry ass so hard,” said Alec and Magnus shook his head.

“No, don’t, you’ll only make things worse. I told you - it’s not worth it,” said Magnus and Alec was trying his best to calm down. He didn’t agree with that - to just drop it and let Victor do as he pleased. He got away with far too many things so far and Alec was already planning a way that he was going to smack him, but then he looked at Magnus, whose eyes were begging him to drop it and in the end he dropped his head and slowly nodded. 

“Fine, perhaps. It’s best not to stoop down to his level, but,” said Alec. “I can’t just let him get away with-” started Alec, anger again boiling and steeping over. Magnus acted fast because he didn’t want Alec to be too worried because of him and he did the only thing that came to his mind - he wrapped his arms around Alec and pulled him in for a hug. Alec’s eyes widened at first, but he slowly started calming down in Magnus’ arms, closing his eyes as he returned him the hug.

The hug lasted for a while until Chairman decided that it was enough - he wasn’t getting any attention for a while now and he meowed loudly, telling the other two just how unhappy he was and both Magnus and Alec pulled back from the hug and started laughing softly. Magnus felt a bit better now that he got to tell Alec what was bothering him and also Alec’s words meant a lot to him. The hug also managed to make Alec feel a bit better, but he was still determined to talk to that asshole. Because he had it enough.

“You’ll have your hands full with him,” said Alec and Magnus smiled.

_ Good.  _ It would keep him occupied while he would be at home. Magnus picked up the kitten and brought it up. Alec smiled and hummed - a happy Magnus was the best. So that was why he was planning on protecting him and his happiness. 


	10. Chapter 10

Alec stumbled across the street, trying to maintain his balance, tripping over his feet as he tried to walk in the straight line. He was out with Jace that evening - they had what Jace liked calling a guys’ evening out. It was their tradition and even if Jace was in a serious relationship with Clary for over a year now, he never forgot about their guys’ evenings out. It’s been a while since Alec spent time with Jace like this - both of them were quite busy lately with work and other personal stuff. But Alec decided that he missed Jace and the two of them decided to meet up in their usual bar, where they got hammered and honestly it felt good just letting loose after a little while. Alec had sobered up a little bit, but his head still felt pretty fuzzy and all that he wanted was his apartment. He wanted to magically portal over to his place and he whined. 

If only he had one of those fancy portals, he would be more than happy. Portals were becoming more and more available to the broader public, but they were still way too expensive. Alec pouted as he dragged himself over to the apartment building where he lived and he huffed under his breath. At least he was almost completely alone. It was late, so that was pretty much the reason why the streets were so empty.  _ That was always a bonus in Alec’s book.  _ Alec huffed under his breath and slowly carried on his way, going around the corner, stopping every now and then and he cursed under his breath.

Maybe he did allow himself to consume way too much alcohol. But it was Friday, he didn’t have work tomorrow, which was why Alec decided that it was okay to have a little bit of fun. And while he had a lot of fun with Jace just a few hours ago, right now he was regretting his life choices as he already felt his stomach dropping and he felt a little bit sick. He only hoped that that didn’t mean what he thought it did. Alec whined and then leaned against the wall and counted to ten. His vision was a little bit blurry and the image in front of his eyes was spinning, but other than that he felt fine. Mostly. His head hurt a little bit, but he was going to be okay once he would make his way all the way up to his apartment.

“Who said that it was a good decision to live on the fifth floor again?” asked Alec himself and he narrowed his eyes as he tried to figure out why he decided that the fifth floor was the way to go. Their apartment building had a lift, of course, but in his drunken state Alec didn’t really trust them as he was swaying on his legs and was slowly continuing his way to his place. “Ugh, this is all of Jace’s fault,” said Alec to himself and shook his head. Whose fault was it supposed to be anyway? Jace didn’t force him to drink, but it was far easier to blame someone else than to blame himself. Still, Alec knew that he had only himself to blame for his current state and he whined when he looked up.

Alec managed to reach his apartment building, but he needed to catch a breath before actually stepping inside. Once he would be inside he would be forced to climb up the stairs and he shuddered and then he rubbed his palms together. All that he needed was a little bit of a pep talk, which he was planning on giving himself before finally tackling the task of going up those evil, evil stairs and he puffed his cheeks and he nodded and then frowned. Fifth floor, he could do this!

“You’re an independent man, Alec, you can do this,” continued Alec the monologue that he had with himself. However, leaning against the wall felt a lot better and he decided to stay outside for a few extra minutes before he would actually gain the confidence to start climbing the stairs. “Maybe the elevator is a better option anyway,” decided Alec on in the end and he was determined that it was finally time to step inside of the apartment and go up. That was until he heard some voices from around the corner and he narrowed his eyes. He didn’t really have much interest at first, but when he heard that annoying laughter he stopped in his tracks and he chewed on his lip. Oh, he could recognise that annoying laughter pretty much everywhere and his eyes darkened.

Victor Aldertree.

Alec swallowed and then he huffed under his breath. Right, he promised to Magnus that he wouldn’t go looking out for troubles, but at the moment he had far too much alcohol in his system to care about that. Besides, he wasn’t going to do anything stupid. He just wanted to have a little talk and he rubbed his palms together, his blood boiling with anger and he slowly walked around the corner. His heart started hammering against his ribcage and he could feel his anger growing. Just the sheer sight of Victor made Alec completely lose all of his self control that he had and he took a deep breath. 

Right, the promise. He made a promise to Magnus that he wasn’t going to- “Oh, if it isn’t Lightwood,” said Victor when he looked up and he saw Alec coming closer to him. Victor appeared to be alone, but he was talking to someone over the phone and Alec narrowed his eyes. “Oh, everything is okay. I just ran into some freak that lives around the corner,” said Victor and snickered. Alec narrowed his eyes and then he crossed his arms on top of his chest. “Yeah, yeah, the one that I told you about. Lightwood,” said Victor and Alec narrowed his eyes and he clicked with his tongue.

“Why do I always have to run into you, idiot?” asked Alec, his speech slurred and Victor arched his brow. Lightwood was acting… weird. He didn’t really see Alec in his drunken state so far and he could tell that he was under the influence. Not that it changed anything about how he felt about the guy. “Why don’t you just move away from here and leave me alone?” asked Alec and Victor rolled his eyes. “You’re so annoying.”

“Anyway,” said Victor and turned around from the other one. “As I was saying, I think we should-” started Victor, but Alec didn’t really let him carry on the conversation with whoever he was talking to. Probably another dick. He didn’t really see who else would be able to stomach having such an annoying friend and he slowly moved closer to Victor and he narrowed his eyes. He was still pissed off with how he spoke to Magnus and he was going to tell him to stay away from his friend. That was all that he would do. He wasn’t going to get physical even if he wanted to beat the shit out of him. He made a promise and he wasn’t going to break it.

“You know,” said Alec and Victor rolled his eyes.

“What?” whined the other.

“End the call, I have stuff to tell you,” said Alec, his speech slurred and he had to again hold the wall so that he didn’t lose his balance. Victor grumbled under his breath and he gritted his teeth, shaking his head.

“Leave me alone, Lightwood, I’m not gonna listen to you,” he said and rolled his eyes. “You’re already annoying as it is, but you’re ten time more annoying when you’re hammered, so just leave,” said Victor. Alec knew that he was the one who was escalating things this time, but he just couldn’t back down. He was pissed off and he made a loose fist with his hand and he slowly came closer to Victor, who clicked with his tongue and rolled his eyes. “Dude, I’ll have to call you back, he won’t leave me alone,” he said and then snickered. “I told you, he’s weird. I’ll be soon done and I’ll-”

“I think we should have a little talk,” said Alec as soon as Victor ended the phone call and Victor grumbled under his breath.

“There’s nothing the two of us have to talk about,” said Victor.

“I think we have,” said Alec and then cleared his throat. “You know,” he said and shook his head. “You have no right to look down on my friends,” he said and Victor arched his brow because he didn’t get what the other was talking about. “You can say shit to me, I don’t care what you think of me. Truly, I don’t give a flying fuck, but you will leave my friends out of it,” he said and Victor hummed along.  _ Ah, so the freak told Alec about the two of them running into each other?  _ Well, it wouldn’t have surprised him too much. He looked like a weak-

“Ah, so the freak told you about-”

“Like I told you, you won’t talk about my friends like this,” said Alec and stepped close to the other one. “If there’s anyone that’s a freak it’s you,” he said and shook his head. “You’re so full of hate that you don’t even see how much-”

“You know, in a way, I feel sorry for you,” said Victor and shook his head. “You can’t make normal friends, so you think of those freaks as your friends,” said Victor and shook his head. “Perhaps you’re just that delusional or desperate,” he scoffed and then rolled his eyes. “You’ll soon see that those things can’t be our friends. They’re here to-” started Victor, but the sheer look in Alec’s eyes stopped him from talking and Alec made another step to the other.

“You won’t ever talk to Magnus like that again. Is that understood?” hissed Alec and his voice dropped an octave lower. Victor didn’t look too bothered by Alec’s words and he tried to shove him away and walk away, but Alec didn’t let him. Alec quickly released him and stepped back because he remembered his promise to Magnus, but even if he did promise - he wasn’t going to let Aldertree go. He was going to tell him and make him understand that he wasn’t going to let him mess with his friends. 

“Lightwood, move,” grumbled Victor, the annoyance kicking in again and Alec crossed his arms on top of his chest and he shook his head. “Ugh, move your drunken ass away. You’re a mess, leave me alone,” said Aldertree and again tried to get away from Alec, but even if Alec was swaying on his legs, he stepped onto the side and crossed the path of Victor. Nope, they were going to have a talk; he wished to have this talk with the other for a long time now and he had a lot that he wanted to tell him. Alec cleared his throat and then stepped closer to the other.

“Magnus is my friend,” said Alec and then he shook his head. “You do not speak to my friends like that, is that understood?” he asked and Aldertree rolled his eyes. The fact that the idiot dared to roll his eyes at him pissed off Alec even more and his eyes darkened. “Magnus is not a thing, he is a person. He is  _ my _ friend and you do not get to look down on him. You’re just racist,” said Alec and Victor scoffed.

“Oh, please,” said Aldertree and he placed his hands on top of his sides. “I’m not gonna listen to you. Of all people. Hanging out with those freaks it’s-” started Victor and Alec decided that he had heard it enough. He wanted to slap his fist into Aldetree’s annoying face, but in the end he somehow managed to hold himself back.  _ Again, the promise that he made to Magnus.  _ He didn’t want to do anything that would make Magnus sad. Also, Magnus was right - it would make things worse. Aldertree was unpredictable, he didn’t know what he’d do if he would actually-

“Aldertree, I’m warning you, you’re playing with fire,” said Alec and Aldertree started to laugh.

“You think I would be afraid of you?“ asked Victor in disbelief. “I can beat you into a pulp any given day and I don’t need any help from my little friends,” said Aldreee and shook his head. “I mean seriously - what can you do to me?”

“Report you, finally, to the authorities,” said Alec and the smile slowly disappeared from Victor’s face. Unlike Alec, who didn’t have a very important position at his workplace, Victor worked as a high official in the local community and Victor was quickly backing away. Alec noticed that and he smiled. “Yeah, you’re not laughing anymore, are you?” asked Alec and then grinned. “Just one phone call and you’ll use your fancy job,” said Alec and Victor finally collected enough to laugh it off.

“I’m not afraid of you,” said Aldertree and Alec slowly turned around and started walking away. 

Alec hummed along and then he turned around to Aldertree, who didn’t look too happy. Alec realised that he humiliated Aldertree, though he didn’t quite understand  _ how _ , but he did and that made him… happy. “You should be,” said Alec then, his voice much lower and he surprised himself by how cold that sounded coming out of his mouth. But it was true - he was prepared to go to many lengths to keep the people that he loved safe.

* * *

“Alec told me so much about you,” said Izzy and Alec pressed his lips together. Magnus was over at Alec’s place the other day and Izzy didn’t know that - if she knew that she wouldn’t have come over to Alec’s place. She kind of wanted to surprise him and that's why she decided to come unannounced. But even so, Alec didn’t mind her visiting and Magnus was more than happy to finally meet Alec’s sister. He had heard so much about her already, so it was finally nice to meet her in person and he was smiling all the way up to his ears. 

“I keep hearing this,” said Magnus and looked at Alec, whose cheeks were bright red. “Your brother talks a lot about me, doesn’t he?” asked Magnus, teasing and Alec started regretting his life choices. He shouldn’t have talked about Magnus so much to his brother and sister, but back then he was really… oh, who was he kidding? Even now that things were going well with Magnus, he was talking about him all the damn time. But he didn’t know how to turn it off! It wasn’t his fault!

“You have no idea,” snorted Isabelle and Alec shook his head.

“Iz, no,” whispered Alec and Magnus chuckled. He could tell that Alec was embarrassed, even though he didn’t quite understand why he was getting embarrassed about it so suddenly. He found it adorable how people that were close to Alec would always tell him how much Alexander talked about him. It made him happy and he cleared his throat. 

“Alexander, there’s no need to get embarrassed,” said Magnus with a wink and Izzy’s eyes widened when she heard that.  _ Alexander, huh?  _ Alec still didn’t really tell her if they were only friends, or if things have shifted, but judging by how close they were sitting and the way that Magnus was looking at Alec. There was something there and she could tell that it was more than friendship. Maybe she was only seeing things? Though Isabelle was usually right about such things. 

“I’m not really embarrassed,” said Alec and Magnus chuckled.

“Why is your face so red then?” teased Magnus and Alec looked away.

“It’s not really,” said Alec and then huffed. “It’s hot in the room, I turned on the heating before and-”

“Hmm, the temperature in the room seems normal to me. Or maybe my sensors are broken,” teased Magnus and Alec groaned. In the end he finally stopped fighting it and he just sat there, flushing. Magnus chuckled and then he leaned closer. He wanted to kiss Alec’s cheek once again very much, but in the end he decided not to. After all they weren’t alone. “Isn’t he precious?” asked Magnus and Izzy chuckled.

“Yep,” said Izzy and Magnsu grinned.

“Adorable.”

Izzy’s smile widened even more so as her eyes kept travelling from her brother then to Magnus and she snickered. Yep, there was something going on between the two of them and she was quite curious, but at the same time she wasn’t going to ask too many questions. Alec had already told her how he felt about Magnus and maybe… just maybe Magnus felt the same about her brother. She didn’t see any kind of reason why wouldn’t. “So,” said Izzy and Magnus perked up. “Alec told me that you two fixed up a kitten and you’re keeping him now?” asked Izzy and Magnus chuckled and nodded.

“Oh, yes, Chairman,” said Magnus and smiled. 

“Right, how is he?” chimed Alec in. He didn’t come with Magnus that day, which was kind of odd. Magnus grinned and he rubbed the back of his neck.

“He’s okay,” said Magnus and then smiled. “Was busy playing with the toys we’ve got for him the other day and I didn’t want to interrupt his fun,” said Magnus, that being the reason why he didn’t bring the kitten with him. Alec grinned and then he looked around, because Church was roaming around them and he was clearly curiously looking around to see if Chairman was visiting that day as well, but he could see that his friend didn’t come and he let out a little sad meow.

“Aw, he misses him though,” said Alec and pointed to Church, who was curiously looking up at them. He decided on Izzy’s lap and he quickly jumped up into Alec’s sister’s lap, who laughed softly and gently placed her hand on top of the cat’s head and she glanced down at him and hummed.

“I should take you shopping,” said Izzy and as soon as she said that, the cat froze up in her lap and Alec snorted. “I will buy you the cutest little outfits, Church. You’ll be so-” started Izzy, but as soon as she started explaining her plans, the cat was up on his legs and he jumped down onto the floor, running out from the living room and Alec burst into loud laughter, shaking his head. Oh, he loved Church so much.

“Iz, you tried,” said Alec and Izzy was still pouting.

“But I wanted to make him so cute,” said Izzy and then clicked with her tongue. “He’s too much like you, Alec. No appreciation for fashion, hmph,” said Izzy, but Magnus was interested about the cat outfits that she had in mind. Actually, he wanted to dress up Chairman Meow! And it was always more fun shopping in pairs!

“You should help me pick an outfit for Chairman,” said Magnus and Izzy’s face brightened again.

“Really?” she asked and her voice got on octave higher.

“Yes,” said Magnus. “I appreciate fashion and I want Chairman to be the best dressed kitten around so how about it?” asked Magnus and waggled his eyebrows. “Maybe we should go over to the mall and look at what's in style this season?” asked Magnus and his eyes lit up. Alec smacked himself across the forehead.

“Magnsu, don’t you think-”

“Shh, Alec, we have things to discuss,” said Izzy and Alec’s jaw dropped.  _ And just like that Alec was no longer relevant.  _ Alec felt betrayed, Magnus laughing softly when he watched Alec and Church pouting on the couch together and he grinned.  _ They were so adorable.  _


	11. Chapter 11

Magnus was pissed off. He couldn’t remember when was the last time that he felt so angry.  _ If there was a time that he felt so angry, that was the question.  _ His entire body was trembling and he tried his best not to bite into the trap. Then again it wasn’t so much of a trap than it was just an idiot being an idiot. Magnus was on his way over to Alec when he overheard someone talking. Of course it was no one else than Victor, but the other didn’t really know that he was there. Magnus could hear some voices from around the corner and at first he didn’t really pay much attention. He was about to walk away but he stopped to listen when he heard the name  _ Lightwood _ being mentioned. 

Magnus was standing there for a while now, listening to what kind of idiotic and hurtful stuff was coming out of Adeltree’s mouth. Honestly it sickened him that there could be such a human being living so close to Alexander. Alec should have just moved away, preferably much closer to Magnus’ place. He didn’t trust the idiot, he had that look in his eyes and he honestly believed that if Alec pushed his luck too much that the other would easily hurt him. And that… scared Magnus. He wasn’t afraid of Victor by any means, but it scared him that he could hurt Alec. Especially what he had heard and he shuddered.  _ Apparently Alec did have a talk to him the other day. _

Alec promised that he wouldn’t really make a big deal out of it, but at the end of the day, Magnus knew that he probably wouldn’t be able to hold himself back as well. If someone hurt Alexander like Victor hurt him the other day… he would lose it as well. Magnus was very protective of Alec and he gritted his teeth. He knew that the best thing would have been to walk away, but he couldn’t. Victor was talking to someone else, he wasn’t alone this time and Magnus gulped.  _ What if the idiot was planning on doing something to Alexander?  _ Alec pissed him off the other day and he shook his head. Aldertree was really a fragile man if he allowed just a few words to humiliate him so easily. But that also made him dangerous and he rubbed his palms together, leaning a bit closer so that he could hear better because at times he couldn’t really make out what was being said over there. 

“ _ Lightwood is such a piece of shit, _ ” said Victor and shook his head. “ _ I can’t believe I allowed him to speak to me like this the other day. And to think that we used to be friends makes me sick, _ ” he said and Magnus felt his stomach falling again. He was pissed off. “ _ I can’t let him get away with this. Not this time, he allowed himself too much, _ ” he said and Magnus felt his fear rising again. There it was - he was planning to do something.

“ _ What do you have in mind? _ ” asked the other one and the tone of voice that he used made Magnus sick even more. They were actually laughing while they were planning something sick. Those two needed seriously-

“ _ I need to teach him a lesson. He needs to finally understand that those freaks have no place with us, _ ” he said and shuddered. “ _ Also I will make him understand that he won’t speak to me ever again like this, _ ” said Aldetree and Magnus took a little peek from around the corner and saw that he was grinning. 

“ _ Look, man, whatever you had in mind, I’m in, _ ” said the other one.

“ _ Good to know I can count on you, man, _ ” said Victor and again he grinned. “ _ People like him make me sick. Seriously, how can they find those freaks like friends and stuff? Those things aren’t human. They were made to serve  _ us _ , _ ” he said and Magnus rolled his eyes. Nothing that he didn’t hear before, but it was the fact how he spoke about Alexander that pissed him off and his anger was only growing. Magnus tried to walk away and calm himself down, but it was impossible and he was beginning to fear that he was going to walk over and smack both of them which was only going to make things worse, honestly.

“ _ Yeah, sick, _ ” said the other idiot.

“ _ In a way I do feel sorry for Lightwood. I mean he can’t make human friends so he calls the robots his friends. Pathetic, _ ” he said and laughed again. Magnus’ eyes darkened again and he took a deep breath because he was royally and officially pissed off in all ways possible. He knew that there was no way that he could just walk away. 

“ _ He fixes those things, right? _ ”

“ _ Yeah. Something I will never understand, _ ” said Victor. “ _ He’s truly a failure in all ways possible. _ ”

And that was the last straw for Magnus. He finally stepped out of the shadows, closer to the two and he bit his lip, trying to calm down his breathing. The other two didn’t really notice him at first, but Magnus made sure that he let them know that he was there. “How about you two mind your own fucking business and leave Alexander out of this?” barked Magnus, his voice low and cold and he then made a little pause. The other two turned around and Victor’s smile disappeared. “Leave Alec out of this,” he said.

Victor’s friend seemed a little bit lost because he didn’t know who Magnus was. “Who the fuck is this, Victor?” he asked and the look on Aldetree’s face told him that it was probably one of Lightwood’s friends. Aldertree clicked with his tongue and Magnus could see a deep frown settling in between his eyebrows.

“One of Lightwood’s freaks,” he finally said and the other made a step back. Magnus rolled his eyes and almost laughed - why? Why step away? There were some people like that though, avoiding him and the people of his kind as if they were some sort of a modern plague. He never understood it, but it didn’t really phase him too much. At least they stayed away.

“Admit it - you’re just jealous because Alexander told you to fuck off and didn’t want to be your friend after you showed him your true colours,” he said and then shook his head. Magnus was being petty, but he didn’t care. Also it was probably true. “Do yourself a favour, stop embarrassing yourself and leave Alexander alone. You’ll see that you’ll be much happier after you stop worrying about other people’s lives,” said Magnus and then he shook his head.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” asked Victor’s friend and he then narrowed his eyes. “Do you even know who you are talking to?” he then carried on and Magnus looked at Victor. He didn’t really know who he was, but apparently he was well known around? Magnus couldn’t care less, not really. It didn’t matter if one came from a well-known background or not, if they were a dick, Magnus wasn’t going to show even a glint sign of respect to them. 

“Seems like I’ll have to teach you a lesson or two first,” mumbled Victor and Magnus laughed.

“I’d like to see you try,” said Magnus and scoffed.

“Was that a threat?” asked Victor and Magnus didn’t know if he should laugh or not. He was kidding right? Who was threatening Alexander before? Even if Alec wasn’t there… he was really messed up in the head. Double standards and all of that. Magnus shook his head and Aldertree arched his brow. “It sure did sound like a threat to me,” he said and looked at his friend. “Didn’t it?” he asked and the other was quick to nod.

“It sure did, Vic,” said the other and shook his head. 

“As I thought, you things are a threat to society,” said Aldetree and Magnus laughed.

“Are you sure you don’t mean yourself by that?” asked Magnus and quickly bit his tongue because Victor’s eyes darkened and Magnus made a step back. Okay, perhaps he should really get going or he would make Victor really snap. But then again he wasn’t really worried. After all - Victor was still only human and Magnus was at least ten times stronger than the other. But then again, he would never hit anyone because he knew how strong he was and perhaps Victor knew that? He could see the hesitation in his eyes and Victor made a step closer to him and he laughed.

“I know how to control my urges, but you things,” he spat out and shuddered. “We can never be too sure when you’ll snap and hurt someone,” he said and Magnus arched his brow.  _ Just what in the world was he on about?  _ “Don’t give me that confused look,” he said and shoved Magnus back against the wall and Magnus gritted his teeth. Now he was really pushing his luck. Magnus didn’t like when someone shoved him like that because…  _ he also had some pride in him and he wouldn’t let such a piece of shit treat him like so.  _

“Don’t touch me,” said Magnus and quickly shoved Victor’s hand away from his shoulder and Aldetree laughed.

“Please, don’t make me laugh. I would never lay my hand on one of you,” he said and made a face. “You know in a way I only feel sorry for you,” he said and Magnus arched his brow. Oh, it was his morbid curiosity that wished to hear what was going to come out of the other’s mouth next. “You probably made Lightwood believe that you’re in love with him or something like that,” he said and Magnus looked up at him. Now he was really walking on thin lines because Magnus was still very self-conscious about- “So it’s like I thought,” said Victor because Magnus’ silence spoke volumes. “How many times do I have to tell you that you can't have real emotions?!”

“What does it matter to you?” asked Magnus, who again slowly spiraling out of control and he chewed on his lip. “Fuck you, man, what the hell is even your problem? Does it matter to you if Alec and I are more than friends? It’s like you’re obsessed with him,” he said and Victor’s smile was soon wiped away from his face. “Are you sure you’re not in love with him and you’re now acting like a creep because he told you to fuck off years ago?” snapped Magnus. He shouldn’t have said what he did even if he meant it, but he knew that he was escalating things. 

“He’ll soon see you for who you really are,” said Victor and shook his head. “A pile of metal can’t give him happiness,” he said and Magnus’ eyes darkened. It hurt him because… that was exactly what happened with Imasu. He knew that Alec wasn’t like this, he would never… Alexander’s feelings for him would never change but even if he knew all of that, he still slipped and spiralled out of control. His eyes darkened and he shoved Victor back. He pushed too hard and Victor fell onto the floor and Magnus took a deep breath in.  _ Right, he needed to calm down.  _ Or he would get himself in trouble. Then he would really fuck up and-

“Victor, let’s get away from this guy, he’s dangerous,” said the other as he was helping his friend up onto his legs, but Aldetree shook his head as he wasn’t done. 

“I’m not gonna let Lightwood’s bitch boss me around,” he said and Magnus was trying his best to hold himself back. He was taking in deep breaths, trying to think of something happy, but it wasn’t really working. “Ah, so you realise that I’m right, huh? If you didn’t think so, you wouldn’t have reacted like so,” he said and grinned. Victor liked knowing that he managed to get to Magnus. He managed to finally crack him and Magnus was looking down. He wanted to beat the hell out of the other. 

_ Aggression wasn’t the answer,  _ was Magnus’ personal mantra and he tried tor really-

“It won’t be too long before he will toss you aside,” said Victor and Magnus gritted his teeth. “He will realise that he needs more. There’s some things that only humans can provide and you can’t even begin to understand how-”

“Shut the fuck up, you don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Magnus, his voice again low.

“Oh, you hit the nerve, Vic,” said the other idiot and Victor grinned.

“You are so weak, idiot,” said Magnus. “It’s sad that bringing people down is the only thing that makes you happy in life,” he carried on and ignored the pain inside. His eyes welled up because even though he didn’t really care what people thought about him… it still hurt. It didn’t hurt for a while now, but now the other one managed to get to him and even if he tried to ignore it… it hurt so much. 

“Bold of you to assume I consider you as a person,” said Victor.

“Fuck you,” said Magnus and stepped closer to Victor, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pressed him up against the wall himself. He made sure that he controlled his strength now, but that self control was slipping away again when Victor started laughing at him.

* * *

Alec looked up at the clock and rubbed the back of his neck. Magnus was running and he was running late for quite a lot. Biting into his lip, Alec didn’t really know what to do. Maybe Magnus got busy again and he didn’t want to worry too much because it was true that he was quite busy again with work lately. But after two hours of being late Alec was growing worried. Magnus also wouldn’t pick up the phone call and that didn’t sit well with him. The two of them didn’t really get into a fight, everything was going well lately so he knew that Magnus wasn’t avoiding him again. Also he had that annoying feeling in his stomach - that told him that something wasn’t right after all. Alec didn’t like it and he didn’t know what to do.

Because he was worried, he decided to go over to Magnus’ to check up on him in person. He just  _ knew _ that something was off. He didn’t know how to explain it, but he knew that something was wrong. His sixth sense was telling him to go over to Magnus’ and check up on him. Alec didn’t really hesitate anymore, he quickly dressed up, said his goodbyes to Church, who didn’t really seem too devastated about him going out. Alec quickly locked the door and ran down the stairs, not even wanting to waste time on waiting for the lift, his heart beating faster and faster. He really had a bad feeling about it, chewing on his lower lip and he huffed under his breath as he stepped out of the apartment building. 

Alec slowly walked around the corner, down the street when he saw something from afar. In the distance, he could see that something… no, it was more like  _ someone _ was sitting on the floor. Slumped over, leaning against a wall of the wall of a building and Alec felt his heart dropping to the pit of his stomach because… there was just something that told him that there was something really wrong about that. He sped up, running over to the other one and his eyes widened because when he was closer to them he could easily recognise it - it was Magnus. 

Magnus was sitting on the floor, he wasn’t really moving and Alec froze in place because that- Alec took a deep breath in and then looked around. Magnus was alone at the time, but his clothes and jacket looked torn up in the front. Alec chewed on his lip and he shuddered.  _ Fuck, what in the world happened?  _ Why wasn’t Magnus moving? Did he run into that idiot again? Alec felt horrible and guilty, gritting his teeth. If only he didn’t open his mouth on the day that he was drunk then none of this would have happened. Shit, he only hoped that Magnus was  _ well _ enough to-

“M-Magnus?” whispered Alec and much to his luck Magnus moved. As soon as Magnus heard Alec’s voice, he flinched and he held in his breath. He was still looking down, he didn’t want Alec to see him like this. He needed to go back home, he needed to- “Oh, thank goodness, you are moving. Hey, are you okay?” asked Alec, but Magnus didn’t respond. “Magnus, what happened?”

“Nothing,” mumbled Magnus in the end, swallowing back the tears and Alec chewed on his lip. There was tension suddenly between them. He could feel that Magnus was again trying to pretend that he was okay, but it was more than obvious that he wasn’t. Alec stepped closer, leaned down and went down on his knees so that he could be closer to Magnus. But when he wanted to take a look at Magnus’ face, the other pushed him away and shook his head. “Stay away,” said Magnus and Alec could tell that he was trying not to burst in tears.  _ Who the- _

“What?” asked Alec, his eyes wide, but he soon collected himself and put on a smile. “You should know me well enough to know that I’m too stubborn to just let it be,” said Alec softly. “What happened, Magnus? C’mon, look at me,” said Alec and Magnus shook his head.

“No.”

“Why?”

Alec could see Magnus clutching on his own legs and he shook his head. Magnus tried his best to keep his voice under control. He didn’t want Alexander to see him like this. Not like this, anything but- “I don’t want you to see me like this,” whispered Magnus and Alec’s eyes widened. Like what?

“I don’t understand, what in the world happened?” asked Alec, but Magnus didn’t reply. Magnus wished that Alec would leave because if he would see him in this state… “Did the idiot do something to you? Did he say something stupid again?” asked Alec and Magnus didn’t reply again. “Because if he did… Oh, I’ll kick his ass so hard,” said Alec, his hands shivering, but he didn’t leave even if he wanted to walk over to Victor’s, drag him out of his apartment and just- Instead, he placed his shivering hands on top of Magnus’ shoulders and took a deep breath in. “You’re amazing, Magnus. Don’t listen to what he said about you, okay? He doesn’t-”

“Doesn’t matter anymore, Alexander,” said Magnus, still trying his best to keep himself from bursting in tears because what he was about to say next would break his heart… if he had one. “Maybe-maybe we should s-stop s-seeing each other for a little while, I-”

“No,” said Alec, for the first time raising his voice and he shook his head. Magnus’ eyes widened again. “No. I protest,” he said and swallowed thickly.  _ Respect Magnus’ wishes, respect them, Alec… but what about his own wishes?  _ “I can’t,” he said and his fingers dug into Magnus’ shoulders. “Anything but that,” he said and then swallowed thickly. Magnus’ lower lip started shaking. “W-when will you finally get it that-that I,” he said and made a pause. “I love you. W-why are you so stubborn? I love you, god damn it,” said Alec and Magnus covered his ears because each time that Alec said those three words it cut him deeper. 

Magnus felt terrible. He felt guilty because he knew that he was hurting Alec.  _ But it was for the best, Alec deserved someone better.  _ There was going to come a day that Alec would want  _ more _ and Magnus was- “Stop saying that,” said Magnus louder and Alec pursed his lips together.

“No, because I love you. I’m in love with you, I can’t-”

“Do you really love this?!” almost yelled Magnus and finally looked up, bearing his face to Alec. Alec’s face went from surprised and shocked to an angry one. What the fuck did Victor do to him?! The right of Magnus’ face was wounded. Right of his eye, then down to his cheek he had a big scratch, the metal out in the open and Alec’s eyes darkened. Magnus’ face was twisted in pain, but not because of physical pain - he couldn’t feel it anyway. It was the pain inside that he could feel in a very profound way and he tried not to sob. “You can’t possibly like  _ this _ ,” he said and again pointed to his face. “I’m not-”

Alec gritted his teeth.  _ When was Magnus finally going to get it that he didn’t care how he looked or-  _ “Yes,” said Alec in disbelief and Magnus looked away. Alec didn’t really know what he was saying… Alec bit his lip because Magnus was again looking down. Alec had so many more questions - what the hell happened? Who was the one that did that to him, though he knew that it was no one else than  _ Aldertree  _ himself. And where was idiot now?! Magnus was swallowing back his tears, but Alec could now see that his eyes were full of tears and he shook his head. “When will you finally realise that I didn’t fall in love with you because of your looks,” said Alec and placed his hand on top of Magnus’ chest. “But because of what's in here?” he whispered softly.

Alec held his hand on top of Magnus’ chest and Magnus couldn’t hold the tears back. He let out a loud sob and he finally… it wasn’t he realised it only then how much Alexander cared for him, but his eyes were finally opened. Finally he understood that he didn’t have to keep fighting the feelings he had for Alexander because he was truly different. He was- Magnus’ lower lip was trembling as another sob slipped past his lips, Alec alarmed because that wasn’t his intention - he didn’t want to make the other one cry. Magnus hiccuped, trying to wipe his tears away and Alec quickly leaned closer to him, wrapping his arms around him and he felt like crying too.

“I promise, I’ll make him pay,” whispered Alec. 

“D-don’t worry, I-I called the authorities, I… you don’t need to w-worry about him, I took care of it,” said Magnus and tears continued to fall. Magnus placed a hand upon his lips and he shook his head. Alec was glad about that part. It hit him there and then that he loved Alec.  _ He loved Alexander so much and he needed to tell him.  _ “I… you...” stammered Magnus and then hiccuped, wiping his tears away. “I love you too,” finally managed to say Magnus.

That was like music to Alec’s ears. He was glad to hear Magnus took care of the idiot but for the time it didn’t matter. Magnus…. loved him. He finally said those words out loud, tears rolling down Alec’s cheeks as well as he did the only thing that he possibly could - lean in, cup Magnus’ cheek and press their lips together.

Finally. 

_ Finally.  _


	12. Chapter 12

Alec tried swallowing back the tears as he was holding onto Magnus’ face, his vision blurry, but he was still trying to keep it together. The damage wasn’t that big at all, but it was the sheer thought of Magnus going through all of that - Magnus did tell him everything that went down between him, Victor and the idiot’s friend - broke his heart, sniffling again and cleared his throat, wiping his eyes dry and he then huffed under his breath. Magnus was sitting on the edge of Alec’s bed, while the other one was trying to see just how big of an injury Magnus had, holding his face gently as if he was made out of paper and Magnus nuzzled into the touch. It was warm and welcoming, it felt like coming back home and he reached over to Alec as he tried to calm him down. 

“Does it hurt?” whispered Alec and Magnus shook his head. He couldn’t really feel pain like a human would, but still… it wasn’t a pleasant feeling. His system was reporting an error, but he knew that it wasn’t too big of a deal. Alexander, on the other hand, was still fighting back the tears and he puffed his cheeks. Magnus gave him a little sad smile and he tried to get Alec closer to him, but Alec still wanted to make sure that Magnus wasn’t too injured anywhere else. Magnus said that he was fine, but-

“No, it doesn’t hurt,” said Magnus and then pressed his lips together. “I don’t really feel pain like you do,” said Magnus and Alec nodded because he knew all of that. The first time that he found Magnus, he was in a much worse shape than now, but still it was different now. Back then he didn’t have feelings for Magnus, but thinking back about it now… he was going to report those fuckers as well. He was glad that Victor was taken away and he could only hope that he was going to face some proper consequences - he and his friend as well. Alec chewed on his lip, trying to prevent himself from crying, but more tears were rolling down his face. “No need to cry, Alexander. Please,” said Magnus softly and Alec shook his head.

“You got hurt because of  _ me _ ,” whispered Alec and Magnus’ eyes widened in horror and he quickly shook his head - no, why did he even think something like that? It was just because the other one was a complete dick, that was all that there was about it. Magnus cupped Alec’s cheek and gently wiped the tears away.

“I didn’t, none of this is your fault, Alexander,” said Magnus.

“It-it is,” hiccuped Alec and then looked down. “If I didn’t… the other day when I was drunk. If I didn’t,” he said and shook his head again. “I should have listened to you. I promised I wouldn’t do anything stupid, but-but I was stupid and-and I had to open my mouth and I provoked him. T-that’s why,” said Alec, his voice trailing off and Magnus gave him a little firm shake of his head. No, he didn’t want Alec to think that this was his fault - he would have done the same. Besides, Magnus was the one who provoked Victor this time, so he didn't understand why-

“I told you what happened, right?” asked Magnus and Alec nodded. “I provoked him, Alec. It wasn’t because you said something to him, I tried to make him shut up and well… it doesn’t really matter because that guy is fucked up in the head,” said Magnus and Alec sniffled and nodded again, but he couldn’t stop the tears from falling. He should be happy, happy that Magnus finally told him that he loved him -  _ Magnus loved him.  _ That part made him happy, he still felt like it wasn’t really reality, but the guilt was eating him apart. Still he was glad that Victor was taken away.

“I-I still,” said Alec, his shoulders shaking and Magnus huffed under his breath and gently lifted Alec’s face up. Alec had his eyes closed as he tried not to burst in tears again, but his heart pained that Magnus… that there were still… Alec clenched his jaw, but calmed down a little bit when he felt the warm hand pressing upon his cheek.

“Alexander, look at me,” said Magnus softly and Alec listened to the other, opening his eyes. “I’m fine, I promise. All in all there is - it’s superficial scratch,” said Magnus. “I’m pretty sure the fucker broke his hand while he tried punching me,” said Magnus and waggled his eyebrows a little bit. He didn’t really have to punch anyone back because as soon as someone tried that it backfired. That made Alec smile a little bit, but the pain in his heart was still-

“T-that helps,” said Alec and sniffled, finally smiling a little bit.

“Also,” said Magnus and his smile faltered a little bit and Alec looked at him. “You do remember what I told you before, right?” asked Magnus shyly and Alec quickly nodded. Of course, Magnus loved him.  _ Holy shit Magnus loved him.  _ Their feelings were mutual for a while now and Alec knew that, but still hearing Magnus say that was like music to his ear and he felt himself getting emotional again, biting into his lip.

“O-of course, I-I’m so happy,” sniffled Alec and Magnus leaned over to him and gently skimmed some of the hair that was falling over Alec’s forehead away so that he could press a little kiss in the middle of his forehead. Alec’s body heated up a little bit and he pressed their foreheads together when Magnus pulled away a little bit. “I love you so much,” said Alec with a small voice and Magnus nodded.

“I love you too,” said Magnus and winked. Alec’s heart swell again and he wrapped his arms around Magnus and he pulled him closer. “You’re the most important person to me in the whole world,” muttered Magnus and then sumped down against Alec. “I...” carried on Magnus, but his voice trailed off a little bit and he chewed on his lip. “You mean the world to me, I’m sorry it took me such a long time to open up, I was just-”

“No need to explain, Magnus,” said Alec and smiled, wrapping his arms tighter around Magnus and he took in a deep breath.  _ It smelled like home.  _ Warmth - he loved Magnus so much. 

* * *

Magnus threw himself onto the bed and he took in a deep breath, closing his eyes and he then looked over to the side where Chairman was sitting peacefully and looking at him. Magnus pressed his lips together and he giggled when he signed the kitten to come closer. The white kitten happily jumped onto the bed next to Magnus and the man scooped it up into his hands and then laid down again with it, Chairman happily nestling against his chest and Magnus smiled fondly when he was observing the kitten. Magnus felt so…  _ happy.  _ He was through a lot lately, but he was happy. Properly happy and he sighed under his breath.

What he wasn’t really looking forward to was the fact that they still needed to properly deal with Aldertree and the other idiot. While it was true that the authorities took him away, there was still going to be a legal battle and he hoped that somehow the idiot could be punished for good. However, he knew that he didn’t have to be afraid because Alec was going to be there for him. It was Magnus who pressed charges against Victor this time, but they were pleasantly surprised that he wasn’t the  _ first  _ one so luck was on their side even if Victor had quite some influence in the local place.

Also, Alec was more than ready to testify against the idiot and he was also ready to go after everyone else that hurt Magnus in the past. It made Magnus smile, but he didn’t want to reopen the wounds that have already healed. What was in the past was in the past and he didn’t want to add more fire to the flames that were slowly going out. But he was happy that he had someone as supportive and loving as Alexander by his side. He knew that he could trust him and he tried not to smile too much.  _ But, damn, he was so, so happy.  _

It’s just been over a week since he finally confessed his love to Alec and they still didn’t really discuss what their relationship was so far, but Magnus had a feeling that Alexander thought of him as his boyfriend for a while now. And he didn’t have any worries about how Alec’s friends and family were going to react because they were already supportive of their relationship before they even became official. It was quite adorable.  _ But there was something else that worried Magnus.  _

It was his father. He didn’t even like Magnus being a friend with someone human, so he knew that he was going to completely flip when he would tell him that he and Alec were now dating. Magnus tried not to worry too much. Also he was old enough to know what he was getting himself into and Alexander was worth.  _ The world. Alexander was his world.  _ But he also knew where his father would be coming from because what Imasu did to him was cruel and it was hard to move past that.

Magnus also didn’t really tell his friends about this. Magnus did speak with Catarina more than he did with Ragnor and Raphael, but he didn’t really tell her that he and Alexander were official. But he did mention him to his friends so far and he could tell that they weren’t really too happy to see how Magnus would speak of him. Because it was obvious to everyone and everyone was worried that the past could… it was tough. Magnus wanted to tell them though, he wanted to tell them why he was so happy. He didn’t… he didn’t want them to judge him though. That was why he didn’t really-

“Meow, this is all very complicated,” said Magnus and the kitten meowed happily, but didn’t really get what was so complicated. “Sometimes I wish I could be a cat, everything is much simpler, don’t you think?” asked Magnus and Chairman just meowed again and Magnus laughed softly and then leaned up to kiss the kitten on top of its head. The kitten licked the tip of his nose and Magnus wrinkled his nose, but he laughed. Yep, he was still very affectionate.

“I wanna tell them,” said Magnus and rubbed the back of his neck. But where was it easier to start? Catarina. She was always the one that tried to be as open minded as she possibly could and it was what Magnus loved the most about her. Ragnor was somewhere in the middle, while Raphael was anything but that.  _ But he had his reasons for that as well.  _ Magnus chewed on his lip and then he lifted himself up when he finally made the decision. “That’s it, I will call Cat and tell her that I have a hot boyfriend,” said Magnus and then giggled when he turned over to the side.

_ Gosh, he felt so giddy inside.  _ Alexander made him feel so alive and for the first time in forever he felt like his feelings mattered. Alec made him feel  _ human.  _ He knew that he wasn’t just metal and codes, but much more than that. Alec made him realise that he was a living being that was as worthy of love and affection. That he was allowed to be loved. Magnus sighed happily and then he laid back down again.

* * *

Magnus was ready to finally make the call to Catarina. It was the next day and he finally made the bold decision to tell her about him and Alexander. He kind of had a feeling that she already knew anyway. Magnus rubbed her palms together and then he clicked with his tongue. He didn’t even know why he was being so nervous, but he couldn’t help it and when he finally settled down, he decided that they should make a virtual video call - he couldn’t really go over to her at the time as she was out of the country, but he wanted to see her. And he hoped that she was going to pick up.

Magnus decided on the simulation of his own loft - it was always fun when Cat was over and they would lay back, drink martinis and just chat for long hours. Magnus was waiting a little bit, but Catarina did eventually pick up and Magnus almost ran into her arms when she finally appeared. She seemed pleasantly surprised to see her friend and Magnsu chewed on his lip and he slowly moved closer to her. Catarina had a bright smile on her face and she winked. “Magnus, that’s a pleasant surprise,” said Catarina and winked. “Your own place?”

“Well, yeah, I wanted to catch up and chat a bit. If you’re free?”

“Yep, I’m just on my break,” said Catarina and smiled. “It’s been a while and you usually pick a more exotic place… like Pandemonium,” teased Catarina and Magnus chuckled. “What’s up?” asked Catarina and Magnus gave her a little shy smile and then he shrugged off, watching Catarina walk over to his couch in the virtual stimulation and she plopped down. “Ah, this feels awesome,” said Catarina.

“I take it you had a long day?” asked Magnus and sat down next to her.

“You have no idea,” Catarina, but despite the long day she had, her smile was wide.”But I take it you don’t call me to chat about my problems, huh?” asked Catarina and winked. Magnus looked away and he felt his cheeks getting red. She really knew him, but it wasn’t only because he wanted to talk about himself. He was always there for his friends when they needed a talk.

“W-well, perhaps, but you can always vent when you’re with me, no need to hold it back,” said Magnus and Catarina waved it off.

“Nah, it’s fine. I don’t wanna talk about it and judging by the smile on your face I can already tell that you’re telling me because something good happened. So, please, brighten my day like that,” said Catarina and winked. Magnus laughed softly and he sighed.

“If you were really here I would offer you a martini or something,” commented Magnus.

“I appreciate the sentiment of it enough,” said Catarina and winked. 

“Very true,” said Magnus.

“So, what’s his or her name?” asked Catarina immediately and Magnus jumped.

“How?”

“There’s only one reason for such a bright smile,” said Catarina and winked.

“You know me so well,” said Magnus and then in the end he took a deep breath and gave himself a little nod - kind of a pep talk. “Well, I’ve mentioned Alexander a few times… if you remember,” said Magnus carefully and Catarina snorted.

“ _ If _ I remember? Darling, all you do is talk about that boy,” said Catarina and Magnus felt his cheeks reddening even more so. While all that was true, she didn’t really think Magnus would risk it again. But-

“Ah, well, you see,” said Magnus and then he huffed under his breath. “There’s been some development,” said Magnus and Catarina arched her brow. “M-maybe our friendship status got a little bit compromised and we’re, well, you see-”

“Together?” asked Catarina and knitted her brows together.

“Yes?” finally said Magnus and waited for Catarina’s reaction.

Catarina blinked a few times and Magnus could tell that she was taking everything in and he was chewing on his lower lip. Magnus could tell that she was trying to understand. “But he’s-” she finally said and Magnus nodded.

“A human, I know, but he’s-”

“Different?” asked Catarina and Magnus nodded. He was so predictable? Magnus glanced down and then he looked down. “You said that about  _ him _ as well,” she whispered carefully, not really mentioning the name because she knew how Magnus got when  _ he _ was mentioned. Magnus gulped down, feeling his heart fasten a little bit and then he puffed his cheeks. That was to be expected, so he didn’t-

“Imasu was a dick, Alexander is a real man that loved me for who I am,” said Magnus and Catarina was surprised that Magnus said his name so boldly. “I know, Cat, I tried… for a long time I was fighting how I felt about him, but I… I’ve moved on,” said Magnus. “I realised that I shouldn’t let  _ one _ idiot have such a big impact on me, I mean Imasu was selfish. He never really deserved me,” said Magnus finally and his eyes widened at the words that came out of his mouth.

_ All this time he thought that he wasn’t worthy of love, but it hit him that it was Imasu that wasn’t worthy of him. He was too good for Imasu. _

Catarina looked surprised as well but her surprised expression turned into a smile and she huffed. “Finally you realise it,” said Catarina. Magnus really changed, didn’t he? Magnus nodded and then he clasped her hands together.

“Thanks to Alexander I finally realised that,” said Magnus and his voice trailed off a little bit. “Well, he helped me realise it,” he finally said and Catarina was seen thinking again. That meant… that the other one truly loved Magnus a lot, didn’t it? Catarina was protective of Magnus but she also wanted to see him be happy and at the moment he was shining. She only hoped that it wasn’t a momentary happiness. But from what Magnus told her about this Alec, he seemed like a good guy. 

“You love him, don’t you?” asked Catarina and Magnus nodded.

“Yeah, I love him a lot,” said Magnus and Catarina smiled, wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him closer.

“So, so, do tell - how is it going between the two of you?” she asked and Magnus felt is heart beating much faster, but was more than happy to tell her all about his relationship with Alexander.


	13. Chapter 13

Asmodeus was staring at his son and was trying to process the information that was just handed to him – what did Magnus say, again? That he was dating that human? Magnus was also quiet and he gave his father the time to process everything, but he was prepared for the worst. He was slowly telling the people around him that he was dating Alexander. In fact he already told all of his friends about it and most of them were supportive about it. Catarina was the most supportive friend ever and Magnus could see that Ragnor was trying his best as well even if he didn’t really know what to think about Magnus dating a human. Raphael, on the other hand, wasn’t really too supportive about it. Yet. But Magnus could see that he was making an effort to be as supportive as he could and he appreciated it. He knew that Raphael was going to warm up to Alexander eventually.

Alec had met the three of them – Ragnor, Catarina and Raphael. It went better than expected even if Raphael kept staring at Alexander for the most part, but he still managed to be polite. Magnus also told Alec about it – that his friends were going to need some extra time to get used to him being with a human again and as per usual Alexander was amazing about it. He was truly the most understanding human being and he didn’t mind it too much. In fact, he made it his personal mission to make Magnus’ friends like him. It was kind of adorable and he knew that all of them were going to end up loving Alec; what was there not to love, anyway?

And things between him and Alec were going quite well. They’ve been officially together for a couple of months, though it felt longer. Not in a bad meaning, though. Magnus just felt like they’ve known each other for a while now; it was just amazing, what else could he say? Being with Alec felt like coming back home every time and he huffed under his breath. But, his father was going to be a completely different story. Of all the people that he knew, his father disliked humans the most. And Magnus hoped that he was going to at least keep an open mind about it. Though, he knew that he was probably expecting too much.

Magnus knew that if his father met Alec in person that he would like him, but to have his father to agree for such a meeting was too soon. When Asmodeus called him earlier that day, Magnus decided that it was time; he wanted to tell his father about Alec. He already told him about Alec once and back then he was still kind of fighting his feelings for him, but his father already _knew._ His father always knew him, he knew when he had feelings for someone and he managed to read him like an open book. Magnus chewed on his lip – he knew that he promised that he wouldn’t be with a human again after Imasu, but things changed. Alec changed that about him and he was holding in his breath because his father didn’t look too happy about the information he just casually sprinkled into their conversation. Asmodeus had a hard time holding himself back from completely snapping.

“Magnus,” said Asmodeus, his voice calm but also cold and Magnus nodded, chewing on his lip. “You promised me that there wasn’t anything happening between the two of you,” said Asmodeus because he remembered when his son told him about this Alec boy and even back then he wasn’t too happy about it. He could tell how his face lit up when he was talking about it, he could clearly see it that his son was falling in love with this human. But now he told him that they were dating and he was having a really hard time understanding _why._ Asmodeus was trying his best to keep his son safe, from getting hurt again, but didn’t want to listen to him. Why was that?

“B-back then, it really wasn’t. We were only friends, but things changed,” said Magnus and Asmodeus scoffed. Well, clearly. He thought that his son was smarter than this and he just shook his head. Magnus was holding in his breath and he rubbed his palms together. While it was true that he knew that his father was only looking out for him, he also wished that he could be more supportive. Magnus was an adult; he knew what he was doing. He didn’t just jump into this relationship straight away. If Asmodeus only knew how much he wanted to fight back his feelings for Alexander. Holding away and lying to himself in the end hurt him more than anything else and he chewed on his lip.

“Well, clearly, you decided to be stupid,” said Asmodeus and Magnus felt annoyance kicking in. He didn’t appreciate his father talking to him like that – he was looking down on him. He still thought that he was young and reckless, he thought that he couldn’t make a smart decision. So, following his heart’s desires was what made him stupid. Then so be it, he was rather stupid and happy than smart and miserable. Magnus chewed on his lip and he didn’t say anything for a very long time. “We’ve talked about this, Magnus, humans bring nothing but pain,” said Asmodeus again calmly, but Magnus could hear the frustration behind his words and Magnus shook his head.

“This is what I’m trying to tell you, dad, not all are like this,” said Magnus and made a little pause again. “I also thought like so, but then I met Alexander and his family,” said Magnus and his smile widened again. “And his friends, they’re all very nice people. They don’t really think of me as… not human,” said Magnus and looked at his father. “They treat me like a friend, their equal,” said Magnus as he was trying to make his father see that not all people were _bad_ , but he knew that it wasn’t going to be so easy. His father was a stubborn man. “They are amazing, they’re different.”

“Oh, Magnus, your love for the boy has completely clouded your judgment,” said Asmodeus and then shook his head. He knew that he shouldn’t be too hard on Magnus; when he fell in love he was ready to risk it all, even after so many years. Magnus fell in love hard and fast and that was why he got hurt so many times. Magnus glared at his father because he was also getting frustrated. His father couldn’t see past his own hatred that not all humans were like that. Also, times were changing, not everything was like it was a century ago.

“No, father,” said Magnus determinately and Asmodeus looked at him. “You’re the one who’s stupid this time,” said Magnus and Asmodeus pursed his lips together. “Do you know how much I wanted not to feel anything for him, dad?” asked Magnus and ran his fingers through his hair, letting out a defeated groan. “I tried not to fall in love with him, but it’s impossible. Alexander is too amazing, I couldn’t… he loves me, dad,” said Magnus and Asmodeus looked away. He wasn’t going to listen to this, he had heard it enough. “No, you will listen to me this time,” said Magnus because his father was trying to ignore him, but he wasn’t going to let him do that.

“I don’t-”

“Times are changing, dad, not everything is as it was in the past,” said Magnus and Asmodeus crossed his arms on top of his chest and narrowed his eyes. What the hell was that supposed to mean? “You should give Alexander a chance, it’s really not fair that you’re being this stubborn. At least try and get to know him,” said Magnus and Asmodeus didn’t really respond to that. Magnus groaned. “Ugh, you’re impossible,” said Magnus and Asmodeus was thinking about it. He wasn’t really too keen on that, but he also didn’t want to admit it that his son could be right. At least to some extent. He was too stubborn, that was true and he didn’t want to give Alec a chance. He gave it to Imasu and where did that end?

Magnus was looking at his father, who was still stubbornly looking past him and he whined, leaning closer to him and he clicked with his tongue, trying again. “Dad,” said Magnus and Asmodeus looked at him. “Alexander really does love me, he taught him that I’m worth of love,” said Magnus and Asmodeus nodded because why-

“Well, of course you are, why-” he started because he didn’t understand what that was supposed to mean. His son was worthy of love, why… he thought that he wasn’t? That shook Asmodeus a little bit and he was looking at Magnus, but wasn’t saying much. At that point, Asmodeus was starting to question if he really knew his son as much as he thought that he did. Did he say or do something that made him think that he wasn’t worthy of love? Asmodeus’ stomach dropped and for the first time that day he was ready to listen.

“For the longest time I thought that I wasn’t worthy of love,” said Magnus softly and even then he realised how sad that actually sounded and he cleared his throat. He couldn’t really see it back then. “No, don’t give me that look. Listen to me, let me explain it to you how much Alexander changed me,” said Magnus and Asmodeus in the end finally nodded. Finally he gave his son to properly explain it to him. He still didn’t like it too much, but he couldn’t really do anything about it. If that Alec boy was who he really wanted, then-

“Okay, I will listen,” was all that Asmodeus said and Magnus smiled.

“Thank you,” said Magnus softly and Asmodeus gave him a little nod. “After Imasu and Camille,” he said and Asmodeus visibly tensed up. “I kind of lost all hope of ever finding anyone that would love me. Be it a human or one of our kind, it seemed impossible. I wasn’t good enough for Imasu and I clearly wasn’t what Camille wanted,” said Magnus. Asmodeus detested both of them. “So, I decided to lock my heart away from ever falling in love again. I mean why would I do that if all that it lead me was to hurt and heartbreak?” asked Magnus and Asmodeus was biting on his lip.

“Magnus-”

“At least that was what I believed – up until recently. But then Alexander walked into my life and changed all of that,” said Magnus and Asmodeus was holding in his breath. “Alec told me that humans could love. Sure, he’s a mechanic, but he also mended my broken heart in more than one way,” said Magnus and his smile widened again, feeling his chest swell with warmth and love that he held for his boyfriend. “He taught me that I deserve to love and to be loved. He taught me that it’s okay to want to be happy. I resented myself because I thought there was something wrong with me. I was never enough, all of my relationships ended because of me. Or at least that was what I thought, but Alexander showed me that it wasn’t me, but it was all them. They weren’t worthy of me,” said Magnus and Asmodeus was slowly starting to see the full picture. “I know that it’s hard for you to understand, father, but I hope one day you will accept it,” said Magnus and made another pause. “Alexander loves me so much and I love him as well,” he whispered and his cheeks heated up. “At least give him a chance, dad, he deserves it,” said Magnus and Asmodeus was thinking about it for the longest time.

Was Asmodeus being too stubborn? Magnus was right and his eyes were opened; he didn’t know that Magnus went through so many hardships. Yes, he knew that his heart was broken, he was there for him when it happened, but he didn’t think that he came to resent himself so much. Or to blame himself for all of the broken relationships. Asmodeus held in his breath and he glanced at Magnus, who was now looking back at him, trying to see if he managed to get to his father. And he did, because Asmodeus was now deep in thought and in the end he nodded. “Okay,” said Asmodeus and Magnus perked up.

“Okay?”

“I will think about it. I maybe want to meet the boy,” said Asmodeus and Magnus’ eyes widened. _Really, so easily?_ Magnus thought that he wouldn’t be able to get through to his father that evening, but he was beyond happy that the other was ready to listen and he rubbed his palms together, his smile widening and he wrapped his arms around his father.

“Thank you, dad. And you will love Alexander, you’ll see,” said Magnus and Asmodeus huffed, but then he smiled. If his son was happy – that was all that mattered, right?

* * *

“Darling, I have wonderful news,” said Magnus. Well, he hoped that Alec was going to take that as good news – Asmodeus agreed to meet Alec in person and he wanted to meet him rather soon. Asmodeus wanted to make sure, in person, that this Alec was worthy of his son. That was why he wanted to meet him as soon as possible and Alec slowly looked over to the other. Alec was visiting his place that day, he was sitting on his couch, petting Chairman that was happily purring in his lap. The two of them looked happy and content with themselves and Magnus smiled. _Maybe it was going to be good news for Alec._

“Okay?” asked Alec happily and looked at Magnus when the other sat down next to him.

“You see,” said Magnus and Alec gave him a little nod. He could have sworn that Magnus looked a little bit nervous for some reason. “I’ve already met your parents and your siblings,” said Magnus and Alec gave him a happy nod. “So, it would be appropriate that you meet some of my family?” asked Magnus slowly and Alec’s eyes widened. _Wait, for real?_ He would get to finally meet Asmodeus? Magnus had told him quite a lot about him and he was excited because it’s been on his mind for a little while. He wanted to get closer to Magnus and meeting his father was going to make that happen.

“Really? Is it okay for me to finally meet your dad?” asked Alec and his smile was _blinding._ Oh, so Alexander was already on the same page as his father? He should have known that Alexander would be very much interested in meeting his family.

“Yes,” said Magnus and Alec’s smile widened even more so. “I finally told him about us,” said Magnus and Alec was beyond happy to hear about that. Magnus mentioned to him that he had told his friends about their relationship. Magnus also told him why he was holding back for a little while and Alec understood him – it was kind of clear to him they would be wary of him, but Alec didn’t mind it too much. He liked the challenge, after all and he smiled. “And, well, you know my father is a little bit, um, old fashioned,” said Magnus and Alec arched his brow. _Old fashioned, what was that supposed to mean?_

“Old fashioned?” asked Alec.

“Well, you see,” said Magnus and then held in his breath. “He doesn’t really have good experiences with humans,” said Magnus in the end and Alec finally understood it. “I mean I’ve told you already, I know, but he was never really fond of humans. Things only got worse after the whole thing between Imasu and me got down,” said Magnus and huffed under his breath.

Alec was chewing on his lip and he nodded slowly. He could get why Asmodeus wouldn’t like humans, honestly, especially after Imasu hurt his son like that. Alec didn’t know who in the world this Imasu was and he was glad about it because if he was about to meet him – if the other was still around – it wouldn’t really end prettily. He would probably kick his ass. Because Magnus didn’t deserve to put through what the other had put him through and he huffed under his breath. Still, Alec couldn’t deny that it kind of made him nervous to meet Magnus’ father. First impressions were very important, but he was prepared to work hard to make Asmodeus like him and he chewed on his lip.

“I understand,” said Alec softly with a smile and Magnus shuddered – Alexander was always so understanding. _How was he even real?_ There were so many times that Magnus found himself asking that. Alec was amazing. “I just have to work extra hard to make him like me,” said Alec and waggled his eyebrows. Magnus chuckled and he leaned closer to him and glanced down into Alec’s lap. Chairman was happily looking up at the two and he smiled when he looked into the kitten’s bright blue eyes.

“I promise that he will behave, Alexander, you don’t need to worry,” said Magnus and Alec shook his head.

“I don’t really worry, Magnus,” said Alec. “Don’t worry, I will make sure to make your dad like me,” said Alec. “Not gonna lie, I’m a little bit nervous about the meeting,” said Alec and Magnus gave him a little understanding smile. As always Alec wasn’t scared to admit how he felt. “But I suppose that’s good,” he said and winked. “Really, Magnus, it will be okay. And I am also very excited to finally meet him,” said Alec. “I’ve heard so much about him so far, I mean it’s only fair for me to finally meet the legend that is your father,” said Alec and Magnus snorted.

“Oh, that’s good,” snickered Magnus.

“Hmm?”

“Keep the compliments rolling and my father will be begging you to marry me until the end of the meeting,” said Magnus with a little grin and Alec started laughing. Really, now? Alec made a mental note somewhere at the back of his mind – he was going to compliment Asmodeus as much as he could and he leaned again Magnus as well, pressing a little kiss against his temples and Magnus flushed just a little bit when their eyes met.

“So, when will I get to meet him?”

“Next week, I was thinking if it’s okay with you,” suggested Magnus and Alec was quick to agree.

“Perfect,” said Alec and winked. Magnus grinned back and gave him a little nod. Magnus pressed another kiss upon Alec’s lips that time and the other one closed his eyes as he felt Magnus resting his head upon his shoulder – so, he was finally going to meet Magnus’ father. He was quite nervous, but at the same time he was looking forward to the meeting.

_He was pretty sure that Asmodeus was going to like him!_


	14. Chapter 14

The atmosphere in the room was so thick that one could easily cut it with a knife. Alec was over at Magnus’ place and he wasn’t the only one. It was the next day and he was finally going to meet Magnus’ father - Asmodeus. Magnus tried to get him ready for their meeting - Alec knew that Magnus’ father didn’t like humans too much, but Alec didn’t really worry. He didn’t worry until the man stepped inside of Magnus’ apartment. Alec came early, of course he did, he helped Magnus with setting up the whole thing. They wanted to make a lovely dinner for the three of them to enjoy and Alec thought that it was going to be a piece of cake, but he realised that he maybe didn’t think it through too much because the way Asmodeus was acting towards him didn’t make him too optimistic. 

Maybe he wouldn’t be able to make the man like him, which was a shame because he really wanted to show Asmodeus that he was worthy of his son’s love. But something told him that Asmodeus didn’t really have any intentions of getting to know him even if Magnus told him that his father was prepared to give him a chance. That was throwing Alec off - Asmodeus wouldn’t even look at him. In fact, he wouldn’t even acknowledge his presence there and it was pissing Magnus off. 

Asmodeus promised that he would give Alexander a fair chance, but now he wasn’t really putting in the promised effort. Magnus knew where his father was coming from and he tried to be calm, but it was really, really rude of his father. Alec did not only help him cook the dinner, but he helped him with setting up the table and he bought the finest wine for Asmodeus. Also he was trying to make a decent conversation with his old man, but Asmodeus just kept ignoring Alec and so far Magnus wasn’t too impressed. His father was… maybe it was a bad idea to have dinner so soon.

Magnus didn’t know what Alec was going to think, he was probably in a bad mood. Or was going to be pissed about the whole thing, which he wouldn’t be even surprised about. Magnus gritted his teeth when his father ignored Alec’s question again and he took a deep breath.  _ Okay, he needed to approach the situation calmly.  _ He didn’t want to make a scene in front of Alexander. 

Alec’s smile faltered because Asmodeus didn’t even try to hide it from him that he didn’t like him and he huffed under his breath. Alec wasn’t going to lie that he wasn’t pissed because he was. He was pissed off because he was the only one trying to make this work. Magnus as well - they prepared such a lovely meal, but the man was ruining it all. Alec huffed under his breath and then he looked over at Magnus, who shrugged it off and mouthed him a  _ sorry.  _ Alec pressed his lips together; Magnus had nothing to apologise about. This was all the man’s fault because he was too stubborn to give him a chance and Alec took another deep breath in and he glanced towards Magnus, who was having a very crappy time. Alec chewed on his lip because this was supposed to be fun, but it was starting to be anything but that. It made Alec sad as well because seeing Magnus like this… it didn’t sit well with him. Even if his father was trying to protect him, it pissed Alec off because it was upsetting Magnus. And it was insulting to him.

“Anyway,” said Alec, keeping the tone of his voice cheerful and Magnus glanced over to him. The look in Alec’s eyes told him that he wasn’t too happy with the current situation. “All I have to say that it’s really nice to finally meet you,” said Alec, trying to keep the compliments rolling. That was what Magnus told him - keep them coming and his father was going to like him. Eventually. Maybe it was a mistake. “Magnus had told me so much about you,” said Alec and Asmodeus scoffed. Alec cleared his throat and didn’t allow the man to scare him away with his cold attitude. “Is there something wrong?” he finally asked it because his annoyance was reaching its peak and Asmodeus glanced at him. Finally. “Is there something wrong with the food we’ve prepared, sir?” he asked, the tone of his voice polite but Magnus could tell that Alec was pissed. “Magnus promised it was your favourite. I mean he’s the one that put so much effort into it,” said Alec and then rubbed the back of his neck. 

Finally some reaction because as soon as Alec mentioned Magnus giving his best on the meal, the man finally moved and picked up his fork and then eyed the food. Alec tried not to snort too much, but it was really apparent that now Asmodeus felt bad about being like this. At least for refusing to eat the food that was served to him. He did care a lot about Magnus, which Alec was happy about, but he was just too stubborn and closed minded to actually- Asmodeus finally started eating, but it was Magnus that he looked at and not Alec. “Yes, very good, Magnus,” said Asmodeus happily and Magnus rolled his eyes.

“Alexander helped,” said Magnus because he was amused to see how his father was going to react to that. As soon as he said that, Asmodeus wrinkled his nose and he shook his head.

“I thought it was missing something,” said Asmodeus and shook his head. 

“Oh, c’mon,” said Magnus and laughed quietly. His father was being completely and utterly irrational. There was nothing that was wrong with the food, it was amazing. They tasted it before and it was amazing, so he knew that his father was just saying all of this just in spite of Alec being there. It was again pissing him off and he sighed, shaking his head. “It tasted fine before I told you that Alexander helped me cook,” said Magnus and then clicked with his tongue. “Dad, you promised that you will give it a try,” said Magnus and Asmodeus narrowed his eyes.

“I am giving it a try,” said Asmodeus stubbornly.

“Oh, please, you’re not putting in even the smallest bit of effort, come on,” said Magnus and laughed again because this was just getting ridiculous. “The joke’s on you, really, you’re not getting rid of Alexander because he’s not as easily scared away,” said Magnus and Asmodeus clicked with his tongue. “He’s been trying his best to get closer to you, but all you’re doing is ignoring him and it’s pissing me off,” said Magnus and Asmodeus groaned and then he looked over at Alec, who was now looking at Asmodeus.

The plan, at least from Asmodeus’ point of view, was to make the Lightwood boy afraid of him and at first he was sure that it was working. Alec looked quite scared of him but that suddenly changed because Alec was glaring back at Asmodeus, who was now rolling his eyes again. Ugh, why was this one so stubborn. Yes, Magnus claimed that he loved him… for now, but things could change and Asmodeus groaned again and leaned back against his chair and he looked back at his son. “Magnus, my boy, it’s not as easy as you think for me,” said Asmodeus and Magnus grumbled.

“Again with your excuses,” said Magnus.

“They’re not-”

“I mean you did promise,” said Alec and quickly stopped talking when the man looked at him. “To Magnus,” added Alec quickly because he couldn’t keep quiet.  _ If he broke a promise that he made to Magnus, he needed to tell him because it didn’t sit well with Alec.  _ “That you would give it an effort,” said Alec. “You’re not really giving me a chance now like you’ve promised so you’re breaking your promise,” said Alec and Asmodeus didn’t look too happy about it. Alec knew that he should probably keep quiet, but he couldn’t. Magnus was surprised that Alec didn’t really hold back, though at the same time he knew that something like that could happen. Alec never really held back when it came to him and he loved that. “And breaking a promise will make Magnus sad. And if you make Magnus sad then I’m-” carried Alec on, but in the end he bit his tongue because he realised that he maybe said too much. 

Well, well… that wasn’t what Asmodeus was expecting. He was expecting the boy to scare away or to be quiet, but he didn’t expect him to do this - talk back at him and Asmodeus hummed along.  _ Perhaps Magnus was right what he said about this boy, maybe he was really different.  _ Asmdoeus sighed along and then he crossed his arms on top of his chest. What worried Alec was that him breaking the promise would make  _ Magnus _ upset. “You really do have some nerve to speak to me like this,” said Asmodeus in amusement and Alec narrowed his eyes.

“Perhaps I’m out of the line here, but,” said Alec and then held in his breath for a little longer. “I don’t really care who you are. If you hurt Magnus by breaking a promise that you made with him then I’m not gonna just sit back and allow it to happen,” said Alec and Asmodeus’ eyes widened a little bit. “With all due respect… sir,” quickly added Alec as he still wanted the other one to know that he didn’t really mean to be disrespectful.

Asmodeus eventually smiled and he hummed along. “Perhaps Magnus was right,” said the older one and Alec narrowed his eyes.

“How?”

“Perhaps you’re different like he said,” said Asmodeus and then he crossed his legs. 

Magnus arched his brow - did his father finally get his head out of his ass and was prepared to talk to Alexander and give him a chance to accept him? Because Magnus didn’t really care what his father thought. He was staying with Alec if he liked it or not. “Duh,” mumbled Magnus and rolled his eyes, trying to ease the tension in the room a little bit and Alec licked across his lower lip and he placed his hands together in his lap and glanced at the man again.

“If you mean by that if I truly love your son with my whole heart and being and never plan to leave his side and then yes, I am different,” said Alec and Asmodeus smiled. A little bit. Finally. It was a start and Alec felt a lot more confident after that. “Honestly if I ever hurt Magnus I will probably turn myself in with the authorities and be locked up for the rest of my life,” said Alec, meaning what he said but when he realised what he had just said he quickly pressed his lips together.  _ That was taking things a bit too far, now he was going to- _

Asmodeus snorted and Alec slowly looked up; if he made the man laugh then was a good sign, right? Alec smiled nervously and he glanced over at Magnus, who was also laughing. Alexander was such a dork and he loved it. “That sounds about right,” said Asmodeus in the end and Alec huffed under his breath. “He’s such a dork,” commented Asmodeus and Magnus finally cracked a real smile and he nodded.

“Oh, you have no idea, dad.”

“Hey, you’re supposed to be on my side, Magnus,” whined Alec.

“I always am, dear, but sometimes you’re such a dork and I absolutely love you for it,” said Magnus and Alec smiled softly and leaned in for a kiss. Asmodeus watched the two and he glanced down.  _ Perhaps he was too harsh on the Lightwood boy and now he was the one that felt like a giant and utter dick.  _ An apology? Asmodeus wasn’t really known to be good at apologies, but he decided to change that. Just for this one time. The kid really did go out of his way to cater to him. And the wine that he got for his truly was the best of the best. Alec had a good taste after all.

“I suppose I owe you an apology,” mumbled Asmodeus and Alec looked at him.

“Yes, you do,” said Magnus.

“No, it’s fine,” said Alec. “I’m just glad you finally came around, that’s all. But don’t worry, I know where you’re coming from. You were only trying to protect Magnus,” said Alec and Asmodeus nodded. 

“Still I hope you can accept my humble apology,” said Asmodeus.

“Humble apology,” started cracking up Magnus.

“Magnus, shh, he’s speaking,” said Alec and Magnus rolled his eyes. “It’s fine, I accept your apology, sir,” said Alec softly and Asmodeus smiled. After that things somehow got started and it turned out to be quite a pleasant dinner for the three of them. Alec got to know the man a little bit and he truly was an interesting person. Since he was around for quite a while he had a lot of interesting stories to share and Alec was carefully listening to everything that the man had to say, nodding along and Magnus was happy to see them getting along so much. 

“You know, when Magnus was just a little young android,” said Asmodeus and Magnus rolled his eyes.  _ Oh, no, his father was going there.  _ Also since when was he little? He was literally produced to look like an adult, he was never-

“Dad, I’ve been made to look like an adult,” reminded him Magnus.

“Well, yes, yes,” said Asmdoeus and waved it off. Alec chuckled softly; the two shared an adorable bond. “But when you were just a couple of-”

“Dad, please don’t overshare,” said Magnus and Alec pouted.

“Why? I wanna hear from when you were little and adorable,” whined Alec and Asmodeus laughed softly.

“It’s too early, dad, please. Save something for another time,” said Magnus and looked at his father, begging him to stop. Eventually Asmodeus decided to listen to him and Alec pouted in disappointment.  _ He really wished that he could hear more. _ Asmodeus smiled when he saw how disappointed the boy was and he looked over to Alec.

“Maybe I can share something at our next dinner,” said Asmodeus and Alec happily nodded and then glanced to Magnus, who was also happy to hear that his father wished to see more of Alec and he leaned happily against Alec and there was a huge and bright smile on his face.  _ A smile that his father didn’t see in a very long time.  _ Maybe this boy was really different and Asmodeus couldn’t wait to get to know his son’s boyfriend even better!


	15. Chapter 15

Magnus finally managed to persuade Alec into going out with him to one of the famous clubs that the city had to offer. Alec wasn’t really big on partying, but it seemed important to Magnus and because he didn’t want to spend another evening in - it was getting kind of boring to be just stuck inside - the two of them decided to go out a little bit and party. Except - Alec didn’t really know how to party. People were dancing over at the dance floor, meanwhile he and Magnus were sitting down and sipping their drinks, but Alec could tell that Magnus wanted to join the others on the dance floor. Alec pressed his lips together and then huffed under his breath. Dancing was a little bit above his level, he didn’t… he wasn’t sure if he was ready to show his dance moves to Magnus yet. Though they’ve been dating for a minute now, maybe he could finally show off his dancing skills without sending Magnus running away from him. Alec chuckled when that thought crossed his mind and Magnus looked towards him. 

Magnus was kind of worried because Alec wasn’t saying much since the two have gotten over to Pandemonium. It’s been one of his favourite clubs and he wanted to take Alec there. A lot has changed since he had last visited it, though, but at the same time it still felt like coming back home. He was glad that Alec was there with him, but he also worried that Alec wouldn’t have a good time. He didn’t look too excited when he suggested them coming to the club, but he didn’t say anything about it. Magnus knew that Alec was far too kind to say anything to him, but still… to see him smiling it made him feel better. Maybe he was having a good time after all and Magnus chewed on his lip.

“Having fun, darling?” asked Magnus and held in his breath. He looked around the place and then he looked back towards Alexander. He chewed on his lip and deep down he was hoping that Alec found the place fun. Magnus also wanted to go dancing, but he understood that that was still too early. Maybe another time, now he was only happy that he was there with Alexander. Listening to good music, sipping on yummy cocktails while having his hot boyfriend around - what could be better than that?

“Surprisingly, I am,” said Alec and then winked. “I have to admit it that I was a little bit sceptical about coming here, but I’m glad that I listened to you,” he said and looked around. “I mean I’m not into big parties or anything like this, but this is pretty nice,” said Alec and Magnus sighed in relief.  _ Thank goodness.  _ “And you really weren’t joking,” said Alec and Magnus arched his brow and cocked his head to the side.

“About what, Alexander?”

“When you said that they have the best cocktails in town. Damn, they’re good,” said Alec and Magnus chuckled.  _ Ah, that.  _ “But still yours are much better,” said Alec and Magnus laughed softly. 

“You sure you aren’t being too biased?”

“Of course I am,” said Alec and Magnus laughed. “I would be a bad boyfriend if I wasn’t just a little bit biased and even if it is a biased opinion it doesn’t mean that it isn’t true,” said Alec happily and Magnus laughed again. He leaned closer to his boyfriend and placed a little kiss upon his lips, Alec puckering up and he kissed Magnus back, both of them happily humming into their kiss, Magnus slowly breaking him off and Alec pouted because in his opinion the kiss ended way too early. Magnus chuckled and instead of kissing Alexander again, he placed a kiss upon his forehead and Alec sighed.  _ Very well, a kiss upon a forehead was still better than no kisses at all.  _

Alec snuggled closer to Magnus and then he looked towards the dance floor, then he looked back to Magnus, gulping down another glass. Maybe that was just the alcohol in his system speaking - he had a few glasses and it was quite strong, at least in his opinion - but he kind of wanted to see if they could dance? Magnus looked like he wanted to go dancing; the longing look in his eyes didn’t lie about it. And Alec was kind of… well, he wanted to get up and move his legs a little bit. The dance floor was packed so nobody could actually see how bad he was. So - how about it?

“Hey, Magnus?”

“Yes?” asked Magnus with a grin on his face and he chuckled when he saw Alec emptying his glass and he arched his brow. Oh, that one went down easily. Alec was kind of… his cheeks were red and Magnus chuckled; ah, someone was feeling the effects of the alcohol already, huh? Magnus himself couldn’t really experience what the humans were feeling, he could induce the drunken state himself, but it wasn’t  _ real.  _ Still, he enjoyed the taste of cocktails, which was the main bit. 

“Wanna go dance?” asked Alec happily and Magnus grinned.

“Don’t you think you had a bit too much to drink?” asked Magnus and Alec shrugged it off. 

“Just enough really,” said Alec and shrugged. “I could see you eyeing the dance floor before, but I didn’t… you know, I am actually shit at dancing,” said Alec bluntly.  _ He didn’t need booze for that part.  _ Magnus started laughing and he wanted to say something, but Alec was still talking. “I was afraid you’d run away if you would see me dancing,” he said and Magnus snorted again and he huffed under his breath.

“Never,” said Magnus and kissed Alec’s cheek.

“How about it?”

“I mean are you really sure?” asked Magnus. “I would love to dance with you, of course, but I don’t want you to be forcing yourself for me. I know that clubs aren’t exactly your scenery, so just sitting here with you like this is more than enough for me,” said Magnus humbly and Alec clicked with his tongue.

“Magnus,” said Alec. “I wanna dance, maybe my moves will surprise you and you’ll think I’m hot,” said Alec.

“I already think you’re hot, love.”

“Hot- _ ter _ ,” said Alec.

“You’re already the hottest person I’ve ever seen,” said Magnus and continued giggling because Alec was almost illegally adorable. Alec’s pout was adorable and Magnus shook his head softly and placed another kiss upon Alec’s lips. “You don’t need to prove yourself to me,” said Alec.

“I also wanna see your sexy moves,” said Alec. “I will be the boring frame and you’ll be the pretty picture,” continued Alec. honestly, he didn't know where all of that was coming from, but all of the sudden he had a passion for dancing and nobody was taking his passion away from him. Magnus didn’t know if he should laugh or not, but he managed to understand that Alec wasn’t forcing himself and that he was having fun, so he agreed to dance with Alexander.

“Well,” said Magnus. “How can I say no to such an offer,” he said and winked.

“You’ll show me sexy moves?”

“Yes,” said Magnus and laughed harder. Alec was proud, the smile on his lips blinding and Magnus stood up, Alec taking his hand and he was suddenly pulled up onto his legs and he happily grinned. Honestly, he was still pretty nervous about it, but being with Magnus made him want to try new things. The booze only made him a little bit more… daring, that was all and he then chuckled when Magnus dragged him towards the dance floor.

* * *

“Oh, I’m not the only one with the sexy moves, I see,” whispered Magnus into Alec’s ear as they danced. Magnus was standing behind Alexander, having his arms wrapped around his waist, the two of them tightly pressed against each other. Alec was in heaven, he was pretty sure that this was heaven anyway, the grin on his face wide, the flush deep, but he didn’t care about the embarrassment. He was having too much of a good time. The two didn’t really dance as the place was crowded, they were simply swaying to the rhythm of the music, Magnus pressing him closer and Alec gasped softly when he felt Magnus’ lips upon his neck and he tipped his head back a little bit.

“I’m,” gasped Alec and then slowly turned around in Magnus’ arms. As much as he enjoyed the back hug, he wanted to see Magnus face to face and the other was smiling when he lookd up at his boyfriend. The lights were dimmed, but he could still tell that Alec’s cheeks were red and he smiled. Alec was so bashful, yet quite shameless. “I’m not sure if that classifieds as dancing,” joked Alec and Magnus grinned and then hummed along.

“Well, we’re moving to the music,” said Magnus with a wink.

“We’re kinda staying on the same spot,” argued Alec and Magnus chuckled.

“Yep, but we’re moving sexily,” said Magnus and waggled his eyebrows. Now, could Alec really argue that? No way. Alec just smiled and instead of saying anything, he decided that it was the perfect time to kiss his boyfriend again, their lips gently moving together, Magnus kissing him back softly and Alec gasped softly when he felt Magnus bringing him closer again. The music changed, it was much slower pace and Alec melted against Mangus’ body, placing his head on top of Magnus’ shoulder, nuzzling into it. The older one smiled and ran his fingers through Alec’s hair. 

They danced for a little while, until Alec excused himself to go over to the toilet. As Alec was busy, Magnus decided to go back to their sitting spot and wait for him there. It was fun dancing with Alec so far and he decided that they could continue partying a little bit longer if Alec was going to be in the mood. All was going nice and well until someone sat next to him. At first Magnus thought that it was Alexander, but then he turned to the person and when he saw Camille sitting on the opposite side of him, he just wrinkled his nose and then he narrowed his eyes. Ugh, what was she doing there? 

Magnus was a little bit confused, she kind of came out of nowhere, but then he had to remind himself that they did kind of come there to the club quite often. But she was still a regular after so many years? Ugh. Magnus clicked with his tongue and then he crossed his arms on top of his chest and shook his head. “Camille,” he grumbled and then he looked around. She probably was alone, was she? “To what do I owe this… ambush?” he asked and Camille rolled her eyes.

“I just came to say hi.”

“Oh, of course, from the sheer goodness of your heart, right?” asked Magnus and then groaned. “What is it that you want? I’m really not in the mood. I’m in the middle of a date with my boyfriend, so please if you would make this fast,” he said, not having the patience. Nor did he care too much about her being there, honestly.

“Oh, yes, I’ve seen your…  _ date. _ ”

“Jealous? He’s hot, isn’t he?”

“Human,” she spat out.

“Oh, very good Camille. You get a gold star for making that observation,” said Magnus and rolled his eyes. “Seriously? This is why you came here? To talk shit about my boyfriend?” asked Magnus and then rolled his eyes. “You really haven’t changed at all.”

“I’ve heard the rumours that you’re with a human now, but I didn’t want to believe it. Honestly, Magnus, a human?” she asked and Magnus groaned. 

“And?”

“He’ll toss you aside once he’s done with you,” said Camille and Magnus tried not to roll his eyes, but it was impossible. “You never learn, do you? I won’t be here to pick you back up again,” said Camille. “The last human you were with ruined you,” she said and Magnus could have sworn that her eyes were laughing at him.

“Alexander isn’t like that,” said Magnus and pressed his lips together.

“Oh, my god, I can’t believe you’re still so naive,” said Camille. “Since when have you become so pathetic?” she asked and Magnus laughed bitterly.

“Well, according to you, I’ve been forever pathetic,” said Magnus. “Also, I don’t get how my love life has anything to do with you?” he asked and Camille pressed her lips together. He could tell that she was trying to mess with him, like she did in the past. But she couldn’t really get to him anymore and that surprised her. Also, it pissed her off. “You poor thing,” said Magnus. “I mean it must be sad if all you do is obsess with other people’s lives,” he said and Camille’s face was red with anger then.

“I’m not-”

“As always, you’re a terrible liar, Camille,” said Magnus. “Please, leave me alone. I have no energy to deal with you right now,” said Magnus and then looked around to see if Alec was soon going to join him. Much to his luck, Alec soon came back and Magnus was immediately in a better mood - not that Camille really had much of an impact. She was just a mere annoyance in the back, but the annoyance that you couldn’t really tune out, so he was really glad to see Alexander come back to him. 

Alec was surprised to see that Magnus wasn’t alone anymore when he came back, but he put a smile on his face because he didn’t know who it was. Magnus did tell him that he used to come to this club quite a lot in the past, so he kind of figured that it was an old friend of his and he decided to be kind to them. “Alexander,” said Magnus happily and Alec’s smile was bright when he walked over to his boyfriend and Magnus quickly gave him a long kiss and Camille rolled her eyes. Magnus was clearly trying to show off and it was so-

“Magnus,” said Alec and laughed. He then looked over to Camille and looked up and down and then he narrowed his eyes. “Hello there,” said Alec happily and Magnus narrowed his eyes.  _ Right, Alexander didn’t know how Camille looked.  _ He told him about her, but as far as her appearance, he didn’t- “Are you Magnus’ friend?” asked Alec curiously and Camille scoffed. “No?” asked Alec, confused.

“Alexander, that’s-”

“Camille,” said Camille and watched how Alec’s smile soon turned into a frown, which then turned into a glare.  _ Oh, so he did hear about her! _

“Oh,” said Alec and his voice was suddenly low and cold. “It’s you,” he said and Camille tried not to roll her eyes again. “Magnus, has she been bothering you?” asked Alec carefully and Magnus waved it off.

“Just annoying, but I’ll manage.”

“What do you want?” asked Alec and Camille narrowed her eyes. He was aggressive! 

“I just came to say hi,” lied Camille.

“Oh, so you’re letting out the part about me being pathetic and, um, oh right,” said Magnus. “You basically shit talking about Alexander,” said Magnus. He wasn’t really upset that Camille called him pathetic, he was more upset that Camille had something to say about Alec and he was making sure to let her know that he was upset with her for that. Camille rolled her eyes and Alec gritted his teeth. She called Magnus what exactly?

“She called you pathetic?” asked Alec.

“I’ve heard that so many times, she said some really upsetting things about-”

“Jealousy really isn’t a good look on you,” said Alec even though he knew literally nothing about Camille. He knew some things - the main point being that she hurt Magnus. That was all that Alec needed to know. “Can’t move on, can you?” he then asked and wrapped an arm around Magnus. “I mean, I can understand you. Magnus is amazing,” said Alec and Magnus felt his cheeks reddening. “But the ship has sailed, he’s mine now. You lost the best thing that has ever happened to you,” he said and shrugged. Magnus was in awe and swooning over his boyfriend. When Alec was in his protective mode he was really unstoppable.

“I’m not-”

“I’ll say this once, I hope you understand it very clearly,” said Alec, his voice then dropping an octave lower. “Stop bothering Magnus, stay away if you mean to bring him down, you should stay away. If not you’ll have to deal with me,” said Alec and Camille scoffed. “And the rest of my family. We’ve all got Magnus’ back,” said Alec and she felt like this was her cue to leave. She wasn’t getting anywhere, so- “I’ll be watching you,  _ always, _ ” hissed Alec, trying to sound creepy and scary, but he sounded adorable to Magnus. 

After a few glared and groans, Camille was good and Alec was smiling again. “Man, I’m good,” said Alec, patting himself on the back. “Did you see how fast she left?” asked Alec and Magnus nodded and kissed him, laughing because Alec was still so impressed with himself.

“Indeed, you’re amazing in your protective mode,” said Magnus and snorted.

“I know, right?” asked Alec and Magnus kissed him again.

Magnus was so happy, with Alec by his side. 


	16. Chapter 16

“Aw, look how happy they seem,” said Alec as he watched Church and Chairman Meow run around their new place. Yes,  _ their _ new place. Magnus and Alec have gotten an apartment together. It’s been almost a year since the two of them started dating and they finally bought a place together. Honestly, it was something that Alec wanted to do much earlier on into their relationship, but he knew that he needed to take things slow. So, there they were, finally moving in together and he couldn’t be happier about it. He liked his old place, but the new one was much better. It was a lot larger than his previous one  _ and _ he got to share it with Magnus. 

Magnus, on the other hand, couldn’t be happier to leave his old place behind. Not that he didn’t like it, but he always connected it to pain. He was always alone in there and he was ready to move on and try something else. The flat that he and Alexander found was perfect for the two of them. It was modern and large enough for both of their cats to be running around as much as they wanted without the neighbours to complain about it. Magnus smiled when he glanced at Church and Chairman Meow. 

The two cats were still in the process of exploring the place; it was their first time there and they and they had a lot of work to do. They had to find new hiding places; they had so much to explore and Magnus couldn’t wait to show all of the new toys that he and Alec have gotten for the two of them. Magnus knew that they went all out again for the two of them, but Magnus and Alec really couldn’t stop themselves once they would step inside of the pet store. Once in there, they went completely feral and bought everything that they thought that Chairman and Church would like.

Alec was smiling when he watched the cats running around. The place was still filled with boxes; they had a lot to unpack, but for now he just wanted to sit down onto the couch that was already there and he quickly plopped down. They were in the living room and he looked around, his smile widening a little bit and he nodded along. Yep, it was an amazing place, Magnus quickly joined him over at the couch and he decided to sit in his lap, Alec’s arms quickly going around his waist and he brought him closer, both of them smiling. They weren’t talking much at the moment, they were just taking the time to take everything in and indulge in the moment.

Magnus took in a deep breath and rubbed his palms together as he was looking around the place. The loft was still pretty much of an empty canvas, although he had done a lot of renovating already.  _ He loved it and Izzy was helping him along with that as well.  _ Alec also helped, but he didn’t really know much about interior design. Still, he was happy that Magnus included him in it because he wanted the place to feel like  _ theirs _ and not only like Magnus’. Alec loved that and he tried to be as helpful as he possibly could. 

The look that Magnus was trying to go for was something antique, yet classical and modern as well. Alec didn’t really know how to put it into words, but Magnus managed to make it work. He managed to create a timeless look that he loved. It wasn’t over the top, yet it was still extra enough to fit with Magnus’ tastes. But it still wasn’t done; there was still so much work that needed to be done and his creative side was already alive and kicking as he was picturing all of the things that he was going to be looking for the next time that he was going to take Alexander over to the store and- Magnus was in the middle of planning things out when he heard a little chuckle above his ear and he slowly turned around and arched his brow. 

Alec smiled when he saw how serious Magnus looked and he knew that that look could mean only one thing; Magnus was again thinking about renovating, wasn’t he? “So, what will you add this time?” asked Alec and Magnus smiled and then turned slowly around in Alec’s arms so that he was facing him. He then carefully straddled his legs and gently pushed him back against the couch and came closer to him, placing his hands on top of Alec’s shoulders and he shrugged. Was it so obvious what was on his mind?

“There’s so many things I still need to do,” said Magnus and Alec laughed.

“The place already looks good,” said Alec and winked.

“Oh, I know, I know, but I do want to do more,” he said and then his eyes travelled towards the door of their room and he smiled. “Especially for our bedroom, I have ideas for carpets and curtains. I saw some pretty ones the last time Isabelle and I went shopping, but I wasn’t sure which ones to get because you weren’t there,” said Magnus and Alec wrapped his arms around his waist and he shrugged. 

“You should have bought them if you liked them,” said Alec and Magnus shook his head.

“There were many options, how am I supposed to know which one is the best?” asked Magnus and Alec beamed up at him and then he laughed softly.

“I trust you, Magnus,” said Alec and then nodded. “Whichever you’d get I’m sure I would love,” he said. “You’ve got an amazing taste, after all,” he then carried on and Magnus pressed his lips together and in the end he sighed and bit down onto his lip.

“That’s not the point,” whined Magnus. “You should be there to help me decide. You know I love including you. I don’t want to get something that  _ I  _ like. It has to be something that we both like it,” he said. “If not then it would be too selfish of me and-”

“Okay, fine,” said Alec and then he made a little pause, chuckling a little bit and he reached up with his hand and gently cupped Magnus’ face. The other nuzzled into the touch like a little kitten and Alec’s heart melted again. Magnus was so adorable, he still couldn’t handle it even after a year of dating.  _ How was it even possible?  _ That someone was as adorable as him! “The next time you and Iz are going shopping I’ll join you as well,” promised Alec and Magnus’ face lit up.

“Great!” said Magnus. “We’re going tomorrow!”

“I know,” said Alec and Magnus laughed again and then leaned in, pressing a little kiss on top of his boyfriend’s lips and then he again looked around the place, biting down onto his lip and he sighed happily.  _ Damn, a whole new apartment.  _ It was truly a big step that he was making in his life and then he sighed happily as he rested his forehead against Alec’s and then he looked down into his eyes.

“Still,” said Magnus.

“Hmm?”

“I mean, sometimes I still can’t believe it,” said Magnus and Alec arched his brow. “That we’re finally doing this, moving in,” said Magnus and Alec nodded. It was true, it took them a while before all of it was finally ready for them to finally move into their new apartment. Alec had asked Magnus about it quite a few months ago and Magnus of course agreed. And they also managed to find the apartment fairly quickly, but then before it was finally ready for them to move in… quite some time had passed by since then. 

And the way that Alec asked him about the move in was also quite special. Maybe a little bit cheesy? But it was also so like Alexander, it fit him perfectly. It was supposed to be just a normal dinner. They were eating out again, Magnus really didn’t suspect anything special about it. But then Alec started acting strange. After the dinner he took him into the park and one thing led to the other and before Magnus knew what was happening he saw a little box in Alec’s hands. It made him both excited and scared at the same time because he didn’t know what to expect from the other.

He knew that Alexander moved faster than him, but at the same time, he was always so very patient with him. At first Magnus thought that Alec would get down onto one knee, but then luckily he didn’t. Not to say that Magnus didn’t want that to happen one day, but it would still be too soon. He needed time, being with Alec made him special and all of that, but he didn’t want to rush into something. However, then as it turned out, it wasn’t a marriage proposal. Alec handed him the box and after he opened it, there was a little cardboard key. On the back side of it there was a simple message written for him.

_ Wanna move in with me?  _

And that was when Magnus realised what was happening. After he realised that Alec was asking him to move in together with him, he burst in tears. He didn’t even know why, it made sense that they would move in together. It was the next step to their relationship and yet… it was something that Magnus never realised how much he wanted it to happen. But it did and he was so happy. So, so happy. 

But all of that was in the past now. Now their wishes were a reality and he slowly opened his eyes again only to see Alec looking up at him and he smiled again as their eyes locked together and he leaned down to press a little kiss on top of the other’s lips and they sighed together happily. “We still have so much to unpack,” said Alec and Magnus shrugged it off because he didn’t get why it was such a big deal.

“Unpacking is fun,” said Magnus.

“And tiring,” said Alec.

“Fun when you’re doing it with me,” said Magnus and waggled his eyebrows. Alec rolled his eyes, but then laughed along and then he clicked with his tongue and then he nodded. It was true, doing something with Magnus was usually a lot more fun than doing it alone and he leaned back against the couch. “Hmm, we need to unpack by the end of the week,” said Magnus and rubbed the back of his neck and Alec nodded.

“It’s Thursday now, it can wait until tomorrow,” said Alec and Magnus laughed softly, nodding.

“But of course,” said Magnus and then chuckled. Still, he wanted everything to be ready for the housewarming party. It was happening on Sunday, so there was still the time to get ready. Magnus was really excited about this party because all of their friends and family were going to be there and he loved how all of them were getting along so far. Especially Magnus’ friends, Magnus was really happy about how they ended up accepting everyone from Alec’s side - all of his friends and family. 

Catarina, Ragnor and Raphael were all cool now with Alec and the others. They finally managed to see that Alec truly wasn’t like the others. Raphael was the hardest one to find it to trust in Alec, but after a few months he finally decided to put down the walls around his heart that he had and he finally decided to let Alec in. So far, everything was going good and he happily sighed, pressing his lips together. 

“You’re now thinking about the housewarming party, right?”

Magnus glanced down at him and his eyes widened, cocking his head to the side. “How do you know that?” asked Magnus and then he brought his face closer to the other’s and he narrowed his eyes. “Hmm, maybe you’re the one with the ability to read minds, darling,” joked Magnus and Alec snorted.

“Maybe!” said Alec, joking back and he waggled his eyebrows. “I do have special powers,” he said and Magnus was laughing there on top of him. Alec was still such a dork and he had to press a little kiss in between his eyebrows. He wanted to dip down and aim for the lips as well, but a loud crash from the kitchen was heard and thus the moment was suddenly ruined. Magnus blinked a few times, but Alec on the other hand immediately knew who the culprit was.

“Church!” said Alec quickly and Magnus quickly got off of Alec as the other was hurrying over to the kitchen to see what kind of a damage the cat has already done in their new apartment. But as it seemed, it wasn’t only Church alone as he had another accomplice next to him and Magnus was trying not to laugh from the back as he peeked over Alec’s shoulder. Both, Chairman and Church, were in there and were currently turned gn their backs and looking up at both of them ever so innocently. Alec narrowed his eyes and then he looked at Church; oh, he was such a bad influence on Chairman!

“Okay, which one of you broke the vase?” asked Alec when he saw the broken pieces in the corner. Luckily it wasn’t a special vase, it was a cheap one that Alec brought with him. Still! Discipline was needed and he crossed his arms on top of his chest. “Don’t give me such innocent looks,” he said and then looked at Church. “Spill it, it was you wasn’t it?”

Innocent meow was all that he got from Church. Magnus’ eyes widened and then he burst out laughing when Chairman started circling around Alec’s legs, meowing loudly as if he was trying to apologise for what had happened and Magnus started to wonder - was it Chairman that broke the vase? It wouldn’t really come as a surprise, when he was still living alone with him, he was-

“Church, you’re a bad influence,” said Alec, but of course didn’t mean it as there was a smile on his face and he shook his head and leaned down, picking up the larger cat and then looked him into the eye. “You’re an older brother, you have to be a role model to Chairman,” whined Alec and Church only meowed and placed his paw on top of Alec’s lips. “You-”

And just like that Alec had been defeated. He softly placed Church’s paw down and then he narrowed his eyes, facing him eye to eye. Alec then smiled and placed a big kiss on top of his head, which of course the other didn’t like. After a long meow Alec finally released the cat back onto the floor and he nodded. “Revenge is sweet,” said Alec and Magnus chuckled. That was what Alexander called a revenge? Well, the cat did seem to dislike kisses, but in Magnus’ opinion that wasn’t true exactly. He was just a shy one. 

After cleaning up the mess in the kitchen, Magnus and Alec returned back into the living room and that time they had company as they sat down onto the couch and they both smiled when Church and Chairman hopped onto the couch as well. They laid together in the corner of the couch, letting Magnus and Alec have their own little space as well.  _ Ah, how very considered.  _ The two were the perfect children ever. Magnus’ smile widened and then he glanced towards Alexander, who reached for his hand and then linked their fingers together. 

“I’m so happy, Magnus,” announced Alec. As always, he didn’t find it difficult to speak what was on his mind. Magnus loved that about him.

“Same here, love,” said the other one and Alec winked.

“I’m glad,” he said.

Magnus couldn’t have said it better himself. Ever since meeting Alexander, his life has changed a lot. He was a lot happier. For the first time in what felt forever he felt appreciated and loved properly. Magnus thought that he was wise for his age, but boy was he wrong; Alexander taught him so many things. He taught him that he mattered, that he shouldn’t be ashamed of who he was. That his feelings mattered, that they were real. He melted his steel heart and changed it for a real, beating one. At least that was how Magnus felt on the inside.

_ Alive, so alive.  _

Alec was curious when he saw that Magnus was getting lost in his thoughts again, but that time he couldn’t figure out what was on the other’s mind. “Magnus, what are you thinking now?” asked Alec curiously and Magnus snapped back to reality.

“Ah, your super powers have failed you, my dear,” said Magnus and Alec laughed. “I was just… imagining how lovely you’ll look in the outfit I’ve gotten for you for our housewarming party,” said Magnus with a wink and Alec flushed a little bit. He kind of had a feeling that Magnus wasn’t really thinking about that, but  _ still!  _

“Uh huh,” said Alec.

“Hey, Alexander?” asked Magnus and the other glanced at him.

“Yes?”

“I love you so much,” breathed out Magnus and Alec kissed him again.

“I love you too,” said Alec back. He was about to kiss Magnus again, but their children (cats) decided that they wanted some attention too. Chairman hopped on Alec while Church placed his head on top of Magnus’ legs and the two of them started laughing, but gave their unending attention to the two, yet still managed to steal a few kisses for themselves as well and Magnus had a bright smile on his face after the two pulled away.

_ Yes, this definitely was the happiest he had ever been in his life.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we've reached the end <3 I know it's kind of sudden, but I kind of lost my writing mojo for this one. Unfortunately. There was more that I wanted to do with the plot, but then it kind of fizzled out. Still, I wanted to give them some sort of a closure/ending, so here we are. I hope you liked it still and thank you so much for all of the support you've shown to the story. means a lot ot me xxo

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for commenting, leave a comment if you liked it. Thank you <3


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